Familiar Stranger
by lolbeawesome
Summary: All characters human. Clary's that art nerd who's boyfriend is the most popular guy at school. She's lived in New York her whole life. Then why does the new kid look so familiar?
1. Chapter 1

CPOV

6:30, I woke up, frustrated at my alarm clock for waking me up so early. I showered quickly, and tried to tame my untamable red curls. Honestly, it's not worth it if I don't have an hour or so to spare, so I ended up putting it in a high, messy ponytail. I looked in the mirror to give myself an once-over ; fiery red hair, large emerald eyes, and the usual jeans and t-shirt. My best friend Isabelle might kill me, but who cares? At least I would die comfortable.

I ran downstairs, where my mom was attempting to cook something. By the Angel, I swear my mother's cooking is almost as bad as Isabelle's- and Isabelle's cooking is notoriously known for giving food poisoning. I muttered something about being in a rush and grabbed a bagel to eat on the way.

I go onto the street, nodding my head to some music, sketchbook in hand, backpack on my shoulder.

There, waiting for me, making out with her boyfriend, Simon, was Izzy. I gagged.

" Go get a room, you two," I told them, announcing my presence.

Simon blushed furiously, and replied saying, "Well, good morning to you too, Clary."

Izzy, being Izzy, immediately started commenting on my outfit.

"Clary, really? Jeans and a t-shirt? Thank god you have a boyfriend, otherwise I'm pretty sure you would be single for the rest of your life."

I sighed. Typical Izzy. She was actually good looking, unlike me, with dark hair, and striking features.

But by then, she had moved on, and we were in her blue Ferrari, on our way to school. Yeah, Izzy's parent's had plenty of money. But I didn't hate her for it.

I was half-listening to Izzy chatter something about her adopted brother starting school with us, and half-listening to some country music Simon had blasted on the radio. I checked my phone, and I had a text from my boyfriend, Sebastian. My heart started thumping erratically. He had that effect of me. I was known as the total art nerd, unlike Seb, who was pretty much the most popular guy in the whole school.

I opened my phone and read:

**heyy babe, u on ur way to skool? :)**

I quickly replied saying,

_yeah, izzy's giving me a ride to skool :) meet me in the courtyard?_

My phone beeped a couple of seconds later, letting me know I had a text message.

**sounds good, cya then :D**

As soon as we reached St. Xavier', I thanked Izzy for giving me a ride, then hurried to go meet Sebastian.

He was waiting at the courtyard for me, reading a book, his dark hair in his face.

" Fray," he greeted me, leaning in for a kiss.

" Hey Seb," I replied, quickly touching my lips to his.

The bell rang, loud and annoying, and Seb and I grabbed hands and walked to our first class.

During homeroom, I was sitting next to Seb, our hands linked. Aline and her followers sent scowls my way. Aline was like the school's most popular girl, and also the school slut.

What she was wearing today? I mean, honestly what she was wearing barely qualified as cloth, let alone real clothes. Sebastian paid no attention to her, however, smiling at me instead. One of my favorite things about him was his smile. It reached his dark eyes, filling them with expression.

Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Hodge, usually let us fool around and do whatever, but today for some reason, he was trying to get us to calm down. When he finally did, he cleared his throat, like he was gonna make an announcement.

"Class, we have a new student today. Jace Lightwood."

Lightwood? That was Izzy's last name… Well she WAS telling me about her adoptive brother starting school today. And what was with that intro, Mr. Hodge? What is this, third grade?

My thoughts were interrupted by a guy walking into our class, who I assumed was Izzy's brother. My jaw dropped, because, well frankly, I didn't expect him to be so beautiful. He had golden eyes, golden hair, golden skin.

Basically, he was a golden boy. He smirked at the girls drooling over him like Labradors—what was with that anyways?

Obviously, he was a player. But when he saw me, he looked kinda as freaked out as I was feeling.

Because I swear I've seen him before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:**

**Aww guys, thanks! I mean, I have like a bunch of followers and my story's favorited and stuff. I love all of you!**

**So I wanted to answer back to a couple of comments- they might actually help y'all with the plot soo…**

**To Anonymous: even though Jace is Izzy's adopted brother, he was sent off to boarding school, so Clary never actually saw him. Besides, this has to do with something else from the past.**

**Bluberry: a couple of my friends actually told me that this sounded a bit like Fallen lol. I guess it kinda is similar, but the past part is totally different.**

**To all you ppl who told me to update: Here ya go :D**

**Oh and btw… about updating. During the summer, I'll try to update every day, but when school starts, I'll try to update every couple of days. Sound good?**

**I DON'T OWN TMI, I ONLY OWN MY WRITING :D**

JPOV

I smirked at the girls who were drooling at me. It was like I was a member of that band Izzy liked so much, One Direction or something. But, I understood where those girls were feeling. I mean, who can resist all this? I would probably end up marrying myself if I was a girl.

Actually, Izzy called me a girl, claiming I spent more time in the bathroom than she did. Whatever, nobody could spend eight hours in the bathroom except for Izzy. I did have to say however, that all this didn't come naturally.

I checked out this girl with a camouflage shirt on, but the camouflage didn't cover anything, if you get my drift. She might as well have come to school in nothing but a bra and panties, and people would have thought she was wearing her regular clothes. I wasn't complaining, though. This girl looked like she'd make a good one-night stand. She looked like she knew what she was doing. I vaguely remembered Izzy described a girl just like this named Aline or something.

I turned my gave over to the other side of the room, where I saw a girl with flaming red hair holding hands with a pretty good-looking boy. But he didn't hold a candle to me, obviously.

That red hair, though, it reminded me of something I had tried to forget for years. I had only seen it once on a girl I swore disappeared off the face of this earth.

The girl turned her head, and I saw luminous green eyes, a smattering of freckles- something so eerily similar to her, my breath hitched.

Her face filled with recognition, and at the same confusion. She tilted her head slightly, as if she was trying to place me.

That girl was making me, Jace Lightwood, freak out. Usually, I made girls freak out over me, and this was a totally new experience. What was going on? I had sworn to my father that I would never love- that love only made a person weak.

So I simply smirked at the girl, and sauntered over to sit by Aline.

CPOV

I thought he was as freaked out as I was, but I guess I was wrong. He was now sitting by Aline, but knowing their personalities, they'd get along perfectly. Already, he had his arm around her, and she was being all Aline-like. Whatever, at least she was off Seb's back.

A couple of excruciatingly long classes later, it was lunch. I was sitting at our normal lunch table, sketching and waiting for my friends. Izzy came along about five minutes later, with Simon at her heels.

Like a little puppy, I thought. Jeez, what was with the Lightwoods and turning the opposite gender into dogs?

" Izzy, what took you so long?" I asked, knowing that she was the reason that both she and Simon were late.

"The heels, Clary, the heels," she said in a _duh _voice.

I looked down at my sneakers and asked, " Why, again do you bother with heels? They're not that comfortable, and you're tall enough!"

Izzy was wearing six inch stilettos, towering over pretty much everybody, and effectively making me feel shorter than usual.

"Well, comfort my ass," she replied, " I look amazing and beauty is pain."

I rolled my eyes, then smiled as Seb came over, wrapping his arm around me. That was the thing with Seb, he made me feel comfortable wherever I was.

" Hey I saw your brother today," I told Izzy, trying to spark some conversation before she and Simon got too out of hand.

" Golden boy with the I'm-so-much-better-than-you attitude?" she asked, popping a grape into her mouth.

"Yep, that's the one. He probably is shoving his tongue down Aline's throat in the closet by now."

"Sounds like him. How'd he meet Aline?"

"Homeroom… good times good times."

JPOV

I groaned in pleasure as Aline snaked across me, feeling every inch of me.

But it was always the same. Always.

The girl, her image swirled in my head, round and round until I wasn't sure what was reality anymore. Her red hair, her freckles, her green eyes.

I had hid from the past for so long, but it always came back.

No matter what you do, the past always comes back to haunt you.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

**Hay guys it's meh again. I find it so funny how two hours after I update, I get reviews telling me to update :P. just kinda funny. I totally appreciate it, tho. U guys r epic!**

'**kay so I came up with the metaphor:**

**cookies= reviews**

**exercise= writing**

**the more cookies I eat, the more I'll exercise :P**

**again I LUV U PPL :P**

**This is kinda a filler chapter- next chapter will have some fluff and then there will be drama.. dun dun dun**

**btw I don't own TMI- it belongs to the lovely Cassie Clare. All I own is my own writing!**

CPOV

Lunch. Fun times. Well pretty much, I spent lunch thinking about Jace.

But why was I thinking about him? He had pretty much made it clear he thought I was just another girl; and anyways I had an amazing, caring boyfriend. Besides, he was probably in some closet right now, making out with Aline. Forget probably, he was.

"Earth to Clary!" Izzy said, waving her hands in front of my place.

" Seriously, you haven't looked this since the last time I gave you a makeover… and that was a while ago. Speaking of which, Seb is taking you out tonight, and I am going to give you a makeover!"

" Hold up," I stopped her, " First, Seb is taking me out? Second, who said you could give me a makeover!?"

Seb smiled at me, " Wow, Clary, I guess you really spaced out, huh?"

"Yeah," I said sheepishly, hoping he wouldn't ask what I was thinking about.

"Okay, so it's settled!" Izzy clapped her hands together. " Clary, meet me after school."

I groaned. There was no way I was getting out of this one.

JPOV

I groaned as I saw Aline talking to one of her friends. She spotted me immediately. Honestly, did that girl have a GPS tracker on me or something? It felt that way.

I had thought she understood that it was a one-time thing, no strings attached. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that way.

" Hi Jacey!" she squealed, wrapping herself around me.

"Aline," I said, unwrapping her from my body.

She pouted, and I whispered seductively, " Save it for later… trust me it'll be worth it."

She nodded, fluttering her eyelashes that only made me feel disgusted. I was wasting my time on this girl. To her I was the world, and pretty soon there was going to be an apocalypse on Plant Jace and Aline.

I saw Clary, and my breath caught. Even in jeans and a t-shirt, she looked beautiful, much better than Aline at any rate. She was pulling Sebastian in for a kiss, and I felt something tug at my heart.

Jealousy?

Come on, I thought to myself, you're Jace Lightwood. Caught over a girl? No way, it's the other way around. Girls get caught up over you. Just forget her, Jace, just forget.

Forgetting was always harder than it seemed.

CPOV

"Isabelle," I whined, " are you almost done yet?" It had already been three hours, and I just wanted to get the hell out of the Lightwood's house.

"NO!" Izzy shrieked. " I still have to finish your makeup, and pick out an outfit!"

Imagine that friend you had who took forever to French braid your hair. Now multiply that by a million. That's what it had been like the last three hour s of my life.

Finally, Izzy was finished with my makeup. What I saw in the mirror was absolutely breathtaking.

My untamable red hair was… tamed. It was twisted up into a sophisticated knot. My makeup was minimal, emphasizing my green eyes. A white dress billowed out to my knees (probably the longest piece of clothing Izzy owned.) It hugged curves I didn't even know existed. And in that moment, I felt beautiful. Perfect. Complete.

Seb rang the doorbell, and he looked absolutely stunning. He was wearing a charcoal gray suit, and he looked like a dark angel.

His jaw dropped when he saw me.

"Clary, you look beautiful," he said, handing me a single, long stemmed rose.

" Isabelle," I explained to him.

"Ah, I see. Didn't know she owned a dress that long!" he said, smiling.

" Me either!" I replied, " It's a fluke of nature!"

We finally got to the restaurant, we sat down, the waitress smiling at Seb.

Jesus, even when I was on a date, women seemed to hit on Seb. But he never noticed, or if he did, didn't pay attention. He only paid attention to me, as if I was the only girl in the world.

I look sideways, and my heart skips a beat.

Why? Because Jace is sitting in a table close to ours, with Aline.

This was going to be a long night, that was for sure.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hay guys :D**

**I had a couple of PMs and comments regarding when Clace was going to make an appearance. This chapter, actually contains some fluff for Clace. **

**If I was a reader, I'd be ripping my hair out, wanting some Clace. But that's just me. **

**Lol. A couple other things I wanna mention.**

**I think it's really cool how people from a bunch of other countries have been reading this! Hello from USA XD**

**I know some other authors do this thing where they pick a random review, and that person gets a sneak peak at the next chapter?. Would you guys like that?**

**Lol I had a couple of people talking about my cliffys. I love my cliffys –sticks tongue out – Actually, I just like torturing you guys O_O**

**Somebody asked me if Jace would actually take any girl out excluding Clary. The answer is idk O_O dude u just gave me some EVIL ideas… if anything really evil happens just blame omnom33**

**You guys gave me a ton of cookies. You know what that means? XD drama chapter with some Clace! Btw this is an EXTRA-LONG chappie for you guys :D I luv u!**

JPOV

I had to stop and stare for a moment as Clary walked into the same restaurant I was in. With Aline. I still hadn't managed to get rid of her. Damn, that girl was more clingy than that video of Overly Attached Girlfriend. Except Aline was cuter.

But Clary… Clary was beautiful, breathtaking, and sexy. I almost completely lost control and went over there.

But then I realized who she was with. Sebastian, and he seemed to engage her in some conversation. Didn't she know she was wasting her time? I had heard Sebastian saying all sorts of stuff in the guy's locker time, but here Clary was, completely trusting him.

"Baby, you're not paying enough attention to me," Aline told me, pouting. She reached out, grabbing my arm.

I shook off her hand, feeling annoyed.

"What is it, Jace?" she asked me, in a sugar-sweet voice. " Is it that bitch Clary? 'Cause I'm so much prettier than her. Not to mention popular."

"Is that what you think I'm worried about, Aline? That popularity and beauty are all I care about?"

" Well the way you went at me last night, yeah."

"Clary is ten times the human being you will ever be, Aline. She is beautiful, smart, caring, oh and I forgot to mention, HUMAN! Unlike some people I know."

"Take it back, Jace," Aline hissed at me.

But by that time, Sebastian had strode over to our table.

" What the hell are you doing, Jace?" he asked. "Talking about MY girlfriend like that?"

"Yeah, well, it's true. Not to mention the fact that she could do a million times better than you, Verlac. She's wasting her time with a guy she thinks loves her, but that guy is sleeping with practically every girl on the cheerleading squad."

"Take it back, Lightwood," Sebastian growled.

"Make me!"Jace taunted him.

"Okay, fine I will. Let's take this outside."

CPOV

I stood wide eyed as Sebastian and Jace stormed outside, each one looking equally pissed off. Were they really fighting over me? I mean, I wasn't that pretty. Look at Aline, and you would see something really worth fighting over.

And what was Jace talking about when he said Seb slept with every single girl on the cheerleading squad? I never hung out with those girls; they all gave me dirty looks as if Seb deserved better than me, and anyways I would die if I was a cheerleader. I decided Jace just said it to provoke Seb, and it had worked.

I stood outside, breathing in the crisp, cool air, and watching with horrified eyes as Jace and Seb threw punches at each other.

And suddenly, I felt the sharp sting of a slap on my cheek.

" What the hell, Aline!" I exclaimed as I turned around. I knew it would be her, because who else would?

Aline wasn't just popular because of her looks. She was a total bitch when she wanted to be, and then sugary-sweet around her latest boyfriend.

" You. Stay. Away. From. Jace. He. Is. MINE!"

She enunciated every word, sounding angry.

I laughed, sharp and bitter.

"You think I would want Jace? Please. He's only with you for the next day. Then watch him move on, and leave you heartbroken. Oh wait, you already know how this is gonna end. You both are playing each other."

"You're a slut, Clary."

" Oh, I'm the slut? You're the person who's willing to sleep with practically any guy. Oh, and there's something called clothes. You might wanna try them on sometime!"

She punched me hard, and I let her. It wasn't worth it. Yeah, it would feel good now, but later I would totally regret it. Plus, Aline would make my life miserable. Wait, she already did that.

JPOV

"Stay away from MY girlfriend, Jace Lightwood," Sebastian growled.

" Which one?" I taunted.

He didn't reply, instead punching my face. Anger built inside of me, and I let it all out.

Shock showed on Sebastian's face. He didn't expect me to be so strong. That's right, I've got it all. The looks, the strength. You name it, I've got it.

Eventually, I guess Sebastian got tired of getting beat up by me, so he stalked towards his car. I didn't go after him. I bet he 'd suffered enough humiliation, plus I'd find a way to torture him at school.

Clary turned towards Sebastian.

"Will you give me a ride home?" she asked, her voice a whisper, as if she was scared of the Sebastian she had just seen.

"No, Clary. Just leave me alone."

With that, he got into his red Mercedes, and drove off.

Aline had met me at the restaurant, so I just told her to go home. She shrugged, obviously agreeing that we'd had too much drama. I made a mental note to get rid of her ASAP, to try to try harder.

That left Clary and me.

I'd always thought of Clary as a stronghold, but right now she seemed fragile. As if anyone did anything to her right now, she would shatter into a million different pieces.

My heart broke at the thought of that.

"C'mon Clary, I'll take you to my place. Izzy can get us cleaned up, and anyways, my parents aren't home," I said, my voice soft.

She nodded, and together we got into my car and drove off silently.

CPOV

"Clary! How was the date?" Izzy asked, totally not noticing the black eye I had, and the various bruises Jace had.

"How was it, Izzy? Well, let's see, Jace and Aline were there too, and then Jace and Seb got into a huge fistfight outside the restraint. Then Aline told me to stay away from her boyfriend, as if I actually was interested!"

"Oh, poor Clary," she said. Wrapping her arm around me, she gently took me upstairs.

"Jace knows how to clean himself up. He gets into WAY too many fights," she told me wryly.

JPOV

I watched Izzy take Clary upstairs. Then, I got myself cleaned up. The antiseptic I put on my wounds stung a little bit, and I winced.

Then, I went to my piano. Whenever something bad happened, I played piano. It was an addiction, something that made my spirts raise without the side effects of drugs. No matter what, it was a constant in my life. So that night, I played the piano, letting everything fade away.

**Flashback time!**

_A thirteen year old Jace played the piano. Even at thirteen, when most guys his age had acne and crackly voices, he was beautiful. His father made fun of him, saying that he was a girl. _

_Father. That word really didn't suit him. His father was a cruel, cruel man, incapable of love. It seemed he wanted Jace to be the same way._

_But no matter what happened, Jace had his piano. It was like his drug, he could play it and reality would fade away. Hey, it was better than actual drugs at any rate. _

_So he played Mozart and Bach, loving the idea of playing something written so long ago. Right now, everything was so breakable, and this music had lasted such a long time. _

_So he played piano. He played for the girl, hoping she could hear him, wherever she was._

**End flashback! **

CPOV

As soon as Izzy cleaned me up, I went looking for Jace. I mean, Izzy had told me not to worry about him, but still I did. He did get beat up pretty bad.

I heard music, floating up in the air. It filled the house with a sweet melody.

I found Jace, concentrating on the music. He was playing the piano as if it was his life raft, the one thing that kept him alive.

JPOV

I heard something or someone watching me, but I didn't care. I played on until I couldn't anymore.

Then I turned around and saw Clary. Even with a black eye, she looked beautiful. Like, she could be a freaking model beautiful. Everyone that saw her beauty was entranced by it. Except for her. For some reason, she never saw her beauty.

"Jace. You really love piano, huh?' she said quietly, as if she was afraid of breaking the music.

"Yeah," I said, equally quiet.

"You're good at it. I'm the same way with art. I couldn't live without it. But you know, I've always wanted to play piano. Not that I'd ever be as good as you."

I'd seen Clary's artwork before, on Izzy's walls and it was beautiful. The way she drew and painted made me either want to scream at the world saying, " This place is horrible!" or say, " I love you world!"

"I bet I could teach you," I said, more to myself than her.

"You could?" she said, her face lighting up.

I felt my face easing into a smile too. For some reason, when she smiled it made me want to smile.

I gently came behind her, putting my hands on top of hers. Then I started playing a song.

She smiled, and I knew she felt it, too. The magic of the piano. Maybe it wasn't as strong as mine, but it was nice to know I wasn't alone.

CPOV

I turned around, suddenly Jace was so close. I gasped once. Most people are beautiful from a distance, but once you get closer, you notice imperfections. Not in Jace's case. His chipped tooth actually seemed to make him more perfect, if that was possible.

Suddenly, I felt bold. I reached towards him, on my tippy toes and kissed him.

That's right. I kissed him.

He was startled at first, but then he kissed me back.

It wasn't one of those heated passionate kisses, more like a sweet innocent one.

I kissed him for everything in my life that had go wrong. He was the one thing that wasn't wrong.

And in that moment, everything was perfect.

That was, until Izzy walked through the door.

**There, sorry it took a while. IT WAS 6 PAGES XD!**

**Hope that keeps you guys occupied for a bit :P I mite be going to Colorado for a couple of days, so I might not update, sorry!**

**Hope this chapter makes up for it. How are we liking the Clace? This was a kinda fluffy chapter. Get. Ready. For. Some. DRAMA! **

**Love you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: 'Kay guys! Lol uhh… wassup? I got a ton of reviews. Thanks for all the constructive criticism I totally appreciate it.**

**A THOUSAND VIEWS GUYS, not to mention a ton of followers, favorites, and reviews! I couldn't have gotten there without you, so here's my gift to you. Review telling me what you would like a one-shot about, (characters, plot, etc.) and I'll pick one or mash some together and write an one-shot!**

**HolliDoodles: Thanks! I appreciate it. I'll definitely try to not to switch POV so much! **

**MoonLitStarss: - points to random stranger sitting to me – DON'T KILL ME :P**

**Uhmchelsea: Sorry that this chapter was kinda predictable. There's gonna be some randomness in coming chappies, so I thought some predictability might be kinda good. And about Seb.. that's for me to know and you to find out… MUAHAHA**

**Stalkerdude: AAH U MENTIONED THE TWO THINGS I FEAR MOST. STALKERS AND UPDATING :O **

**Oh, and dear Namethegame, I understand everybody won't necessarily like my writing. That's okay. I love constructive criticism to make it better. But telling me my writing sucks won't help. Actually, it just makes it worst. Please don't flame.**

IPOV (Sorry, I thought this might be interesting!)

What the hell? I walked into a room to see my taken best friend and my player of a brother kissing. Didn't Clary know better? I had complained to her millions of times about all the ex-girlfriends who called our house, asking for Jace.

This is pretty much what happened:

"What the HELL!" I screamed at them.

Clary and Jace tore apart, guilty faces as if they had done something wrong. They had.

I knew Jace chased after girls, but why Clary? Jesus, she was TAKEN!

Hey, on the other hand, I had some ammo. Clary always made fun of me and Simon kissing, so I could totally use this against her.

But still. Ugh. Gross. This was my bff and my BROTHER we are talking about here. That was like wearing sandals and socks, for god's sake. The worst part of this is was that Jace probably saw Clary as just another girl toy.

She wasn't. Back in the day, when I was new to this school I had the looks but no social skills. Clary was my first friend, the first person I had sleepovers or gossiped with. Not to mention we were total opposites.

Clary was more balanced, thoughtful, and honestly I think hurting Clary is like kicking a cute little bunny. Me, I was more of a rebel, speaking without thinking. Oh, try insulting and I will kick your ass.

Point is, Clary was fragile, like glass. Her height really didn't help. And I was afraid that Jace would hurt her.

Jace kicks bunnies for fun.

CPOV

I walk in on Monday, not knowing what to expect. Would Seb and Jace fight again? Did Seb still love me? What about Jace? Did last night mean ANYTHING?

Seb was sitting in his normal seat, waving at me. It was like nothing happened between us.

I, on the other hand was totally uncomfortable was Sebastian. One of the characteristics I loved most about him was that I felt comfortable with him. Now, I was just scared on what he would do. Would he ever turn on me like that?

Jace was chilling, an arm wrapped carelessly around his newest girlfriend, Kaelie. Aline sat sulking in a corner. Ha, she thought she would still get back Jace.

I had seen the way Jace had been frustrated with Aline, like she was too clingy. Which was true. I watched with satisfaction, because well, honestly, it was time the player got played.

But what about me? It was as if the kiss hadn't meant anything to him.

But to me it was like Jace had come up and torn my world filled with Sebastian, and had destroyed it. Some good had come out of the apocalypse, but then he just ripped it up again. As if my heart was just paper, and he had scissors wherever he went.

I decided to give Sebastian another chance. Yes, I was scared of him- but he was Seb. The guy I had confided everything to, about my haunting past, my present, my future.

Was I really going to let that go?

No. I would trust with Sebastian the mess of my heart.

So I went up to him, and hugged him, breathing in his sweet, Seb-y scent. The hug that had kept me afloat, made me even happier.

This was Sebastian, and as I was hugging him, he kept stroking my hair, saying

"I'm so sorry, Clary. I'm so sorry. I love you, my beautiful Clary."

I just looked at him and said simply, "It never happened."

And with that, I turned back to the world I had before Jace ever showed up.

JPOV

I think that school was made specifically to torture us kids.

Like, sitting in a room for an hour and half, then moving to another class? Sounds like prison to me.

I knew, without a doubt, that I wanted to be a pianist. For me, school was just something I had to go through, then I would never set foot in anything educational again. Unless, of course, it had to do with music.

For some people, I guess, school turned them on, if you know what I mean.

There were people going at it all the time in the janitor's closest.

Most of the time, it involved Sebastian and some cheerleader. I honestly couldn't believe that Clary had not even a hint of an idea that this was going on. Because honestly, I don't think she would tolerate it a single bit.

So this time, at lunch, I decided I would let Clary know. I told Izzy to tell Clary.

"Don't you think I've considered that, Jace?" she said, with a sigh. " But she's so fragile, I think she might withdraw herself from the world. Again."

"First of all, she's gonna find out sooner or later that her boyfriend is a two-timing bastard. The day has to come, and sooner is better than later. And what do you mean, again?"

"Later Jace," she said sharply," And fine… I know you'd do it if I wasn't there, anyways. Just make sure nothing happens to this heels, or you ARE buying me new ones."

Clary was sitting at her usual lunch table, laughing with Simon, and drawing something. It made me feel oddly jealous, wishing I was there laughing with her.

"Hey, Clary. Can I talk to you?" I asked.

"Where's Kaelie?" she replied abruptly. As if it mattered. Tomorrow, I would have a new girlfriend.

One good thing with St. Xavier's was that there were tons of sexy girls.

"Doesn't matter." I said vaguely. " We need to talk, Izzy says so."

We both knew we had gotten off waaayyy too easy with Izzy.

She waved frantically at Clary, a comical sight since she was wearing bright orange and was like ten feet tall.

"Okay," she said softly, giving in.

I walked her out into the hallway, and stood her in front of the janitor's closet purposefully.

As I began to talk, we heard a soft groan.

"Sebastian?" Clary said, in shock.

Poor girl. She never saw it coming.

I'm sorry, Clary, I thought desperately. I'm sorry I'm breaking you like this. Can't you see, it's for the best?

SPOV

"Maia," I moaned softly. She was head cheerleader, and I had to say she was million times better than Clary was or would ever be.

Suddenly, light flooded the dark closet. A couple of faces peered out at us.

One was a golden face, good looking. Jace.

The other one was a face I thought I would never see like this.

"Sebastian," she said, a couple of tears running down her face.

And then she turned and ran, leaving me there, helpless.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hay guys! Omg I'm so close to fifty reviews. Do you think I could get there this chapter?**

**Did you guys honestly think I would let Sebastian stick around too long? A bunch of you called him great choice words :D I totally agree! O_O watch out Seb… angry readers on your trail**

**Seb: Hey, what did I do!**

**Me: You cheated on Clary, duh.**

**Thanks for everything guys. As always, I love you guys 3**

**BTW I'm not going to Colorado, so more updates. School starts on Sept. 5****th****, so updates with DEFINETLY slow down after that.**

**Oh yes, under no circumstance do I own the characters, or the Mortal instruments. That belongs to the awesome Cassie Clare. Unless I turned into her… that would be cool.**

**However, I DO own my own writing and plot. **

**Oh oh and by the way: I had requests for lemon scenes. This is rated T, but if enough people request it, I'll ATTEMPT to write one.**

**One more thing. If you read this author's note, add the word LLAMA somewhere in ur review!**

CPOV

I was crying my heart out, as if crying would dull the pain.

It didn't. The pain was like a sharp stab, threating to kill me. After seeing Seb with Maia, I had run home. Away from Seb, away from Jace, away from Maia. Away from it all.

I had gotten like three million texts, calls and voicemails from Sebastian, Jace, and Izzy. I eventually just turned my phone off, sick and tired of it all.

Everything I had of Sebastian- notes passed in class, jewelry, photographs, sketches - everything was in the trash. Was it possible to get rid of memories? Because if it was, I would. I would forget Sebastian, and maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.

Was I not good enough? Sure, Maia was so much prettier than me, and she was a cheerleader. I was just another art geek. But still, it hurt that the two years meant nothing to him.

There was a knocking at my door suddenly, with a threat yelled.

"Clarissa Fray, you open this door right now. Or I swear to god, I will give you a ten hour makeover, take you to Pandemonium, and make you flirt with every single guy there."

Obviously, that wasn't an empty threat. This was Izzy we were talking about for god's sakes.

Sighing, I opened the door. Immediately, I was enfolded in a very un-Izzy-like hug.

"I'm so sorry, Clary," she said. "He's a bastard, that son of a bitch will regret it. Sooner, or later, his face will meet my stilettos," she vowed.

I rolled my eyes a bit and mustered a bit of laughter.

"But seriously Clary, you look like crap. Okay, why don't we watched the Titanic and eat cookie dough ice cream, like normal people?"

"First, because Titanic is a very depressing movie, and I'm not interested in being depressed. Second, we're not normal. Third, WHERE IS THE COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM!"

Izzy laughed and held out a tub. I grabbed it from her, and the two of us began shoveling ice cream into our mouths. Normally, we weren't like this, but hey, it's cookie dough ice cream.

And for a little, bit it was almost like Sebastian had never promised to fix my heart.

"Izzy," I sighed, exasperated. She had somehow convinced me to go to Pandemonium, the night club. Her family was friends with the owner, so of course she always got in.

Izzy had told me it would be good for me to get out, but I honestly thought I would be celebrating my sixtieth birthday in this room, judging how long it took Izzy to get ready.

"Okay!" she squealed. "Look in the mirror!"

She had forbidden me from looking in the mirror until she came out. I gasped in awe as I looked. Izzy had somehow done it again, making me look beautiful.

My green eyes were highlighted, making them look bigger than they were. I wore a simple black dress, nothing too fancy. I remembered the last time Izzy did this, when I felt like the luckiest girl alive.

Forget him, forget him, forget him, I chanted to myself silently.

Izzy came and stood next to me.

"Look at us," she said quietly. " The two prettiest girls in New York."

JPOV

My heart had broken when I'd seen Clary like that. So I'd left Sebastian with Maia, and by the end of the day, they were official.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing to you the ultimate player of St. Xavier's. Sebastian Verlac.

I had two solutions to life: play piano, or get drunk. Piano reminded me too much of Clary, and that amazing, sweet kiss. So, that night, I went to Pandemonium.

The air was smoky, and there were like five people per square inch of space of the floor. I had a bunch of barely dressed girls following me around, giggling. I smiled and flirted a little bit, then started drinking a little.

Suddenly, I stopped. Had I drunk more than I realized? I was sure I was hallucinating. Because right there in front of me was Clary.

She looked breathtaking as usual, carrying herself with dignity and elegance. I could tell she felt out of place, and I smirked on the inside. Izzy.

She was watching Sebastian and Maia grind each other, and I could feel her grief. Sebastian was really an asshole.

"Clary," I said softly.

She wheeled around, facing me. As soon as she recognized me, her face hardened.

"Get lost, Jace," she said, snarling.

"In a million years. Have you seen all those ladies? They wish they were you." I replied, smirking.

"I'm not interested, Jace."

"Sure," I replied with an easy smile.

"No, you don't understand. You. Ruined. My. Life."

So Clary hated me. My heart shattered. And so I did the one thing that could possibly make her see.

I kissed Clary with all the passion and love I had been carrying around my entire life.

She kissed me back, then stepped back, startled as if the kiss had taken her by surprise.

I was surprised to see tears streaming down her face.

"Dammit, Jace, don't you see. Ever since you came, my life was shattered. It's all because of you! If I didn't know better, I would have sworn you were raised by my father. Because he's just like you.

He was arrogant, snide, and thought he could win any girl. Just like you!"

With that, she stormed away, probably to find Izzy.

I went home after that, afraid of bumping into Clary again. I had to keep telling myself that Clary was just another girl. I remembered the last time I had actually cried over a girl…

Flashback!

_Jace waited as patiently for her- that is, as patiently as a ten-year old could. He had bruises and burn marks all over his body, yet he had an eager smile on his face._

_He was waiting for the little girl who always came to see him. She was maybe a couple years younger than him, but she always knew how to make him feel better._

_In fact, the last time he saw her, she had made him a drawing, a childish portrait. He kept it in his pocket at all times now, carrying it around like a teddy bear or a safety blanket. She made him feel safe._

_Slowly, the sunshine began to fade away, the sky becoming as dark and overcast as Jace felt._

_And then it began to rain, cold and hard. Jace didn't run, he just stood there. And he cried with the sky._

_He never saw the girl again. It was as if she had disappeared off the face of this Earth._

End Flashback!

Yeah, I had his first love when I was ten years old. Even back then, girls had been attracted to me. At least I hadn't to wait until I was thirteen to have his first love, like Justin Bieber. I would have never met her.

I looked into the pocket of my coat, which contained a childish drawing of a little girl and a boy. The boy's arms were wrapped protectively around the girl. God, if I ever found her now, I swore he would never let her go.

My father had instilled in him the fact that love wasn't good- but they said if you couldn't love, you were a monster.

I was a monster. But here I was crying over Clary, the girl I loved the most. The girl that had awoken the dead.

At least I was human enough to cry.

**Hope this chappie was ok. Sry, had to make Clary hate Jace XD you'll see, children.**

**Again, I love you guys.**

**Until next time, (probably tomorrow XD ) so far away… I know I know**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: OMG GUYS 50 REVIEWS! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!**

**O_O and then it turns out only like four people read these author notes.**

**Thanks to those people :D**

**M'kay, sooo Lillylovesbooks requested that I put her in this story. She's the OC Lilly for this chapter. Would anybody else like to be in the story? If so, I'll probably end up making you one of Aline's friends or Jace's new gf or something.**

**CannibleDuckWithAnAxe4: First of all, nice name. It's totally not violent. XD**

**I LIKE UNICORNS :D :D it's in here lol, as per your request.**

**This is kinda a filler chapter leading up to something, so hope you like it.**

**Would it be possible for me to get 60 reviews?**

CPOV

I couldn't believe Jace kissed me. Again.

I mean I liked him. A lot. But, I was scared I was gonna be just another girl toy. And I wasn't ever making that mistake after Sebastian. No, I needed somebody I could trust to put together by heart.

I also decided not to tell Izzy about the kiss, because, well she would freak out. After the last episode, she had totally flipped out on us. If I told her, I don't think I would live. Or, my face would have a nice chat with her new purse.

So when I walked in to homeroom, I didn't expect much. But, Jace was looking at me expectantly.

"Feeling, better, Clary?" he asked me, smirking. "I bet it was that awesome kiss I gave you?"

"In your dreams, Lightwood," I replied, sitting down next to him.

"Why aren't you sitting next to Sebastian?" he asked me, tauntingly.

"Shut the hell up Jace Lightwood!"

Mr. Hodge cleared his throat.

Great. Just what this school needs. Another new kid.

This time, I was pleasantly surprised, though.

"Class, this is Lilly. She's a foreign exchange student from Spain, and she's staying here for a day, before she goes to Maryland."

I saw Jace whistle, and I glared at him.

"What? She's hot!" he replied, looking unaffected.

Lilly scanned the room, and in her hand she carried a sketchbook.

Life was looking up. Another artist!

I waved at her, a huge smile on my face.

"Hi, my name is Lilly," she said shyly, sitting next to me. She had a faint Spanish accent, but it wasn't too obvious or anything.

"Hi, my name is Jace, and funny, because you look like my next girlfriend." Jace said before I could say anything.

Lilly had no idea what a player he was, so thank god she was only here for a day.

"And I'm Clary," I told her, holding up my sketchbook.

I saw her face visibly brighten.

"Oh good, another artist!" she said excitedly.

"Clary's an excellent artist," Jace said quietly.

Thank god there were no flies in the room, because if there were, I swear they would have found a home in my mouth. My jaw dropped in astonishment. Did Jace Lightwood just compliment me? In all the time I had known him, he hadn't ever complimented any of his girlfriends.

Was it possible, even if the probability was one to a million, that Jace actually liked me?

"But," he continued, "Lilly, today is the luckiest day of your life, because you are my girlfriend."

Lilly looked taken aback, then nodded her head yes.

Never mind, Izzy had probably forced Jace to be nice. She had probably threatened to give Jace a makeover or something. God knew that what Izzy wanted, Izzy got.

JPOV

****Was Clary jealous? I hoped she was, because even though Lilly was hot and beautiful, I only had eyes for her. I slung my arm around Lilly, and grinned when I saw Clary divert her eyes.

Good, she was jealous.

I absolutely hated English. What was the point of learning a language I had been speaking since I was three? Plus, I hated any sort of grammar work. Essays were the absolute worse.

The night before, we had been assigned to write an essay about whatever we felt like. My topic was pretty cool; why I liked unicorns better than horses. Obviously unicorns were better because they were sparkly and pooped rainbows and stuff. A horse was just normal and boring. **( A/N: I have absolutely nothing against horses; I actually love horses. I just have this weird obsession for llamas and unicorns!)**

Yes, I might have failed, but who cared? I would pay a million bucks to see the look of the teacher's face when he read by essay.

Lunch couldn't come soon enough. Yes, cafeteria food sucked, but hey, it was better than English class.

"So, you wanna go out for dinner?" I asked Lilly, though through my peripheral vision I was looking for Clary.

"No," she said firmly.

Wait, what? Did Lilly just reject me? Jace Lightwood, sexy god?

"What?" I asked, stunned.

She laughed, and I had to say, she had a nice laugh.

"Jace, obviously you like Clary. And I'm pretty sure she likes you, too."

Girls know everything about love.

"Jace, you are going to ask out Clary," she said firmly.

"Now?"

"Yes now, smart one."

She waved at Clary, and Clary smiled and walked over.

"Hey Lilly, hey Jace," she greeted us.

God, even what her voice could do to me…

"Jace has something to ask you," Lilly said, pointing a finger at me.

Ok, here goes nothing, I thought to myself.

And then as fast as I possibly could I said, " Clary-I-love-you-will-you-go-out-with-me?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you guys SO much, for going above and beyond 60 reviews. I think I ended up getting like 65 or something.**

**I LOVE YOU ALL (in a non-awkward way, obviously.)**

**To all the people who requested to be OCs, I think I PMed you all, but if I didn't, lemme know. In this chappie, I don't have any OC's- sry!**

**OC's will start either next chappie or the one after that. SORRY, it's just I had to fit it into the storyline like that.**

**I'm aiming for 75 reviews, and if I get there by this chapter, I swear to god I will write a super-duper long chapter with Clary and Jace's date in it, with no cliffys. I know, shocker since cliffys r my bffs XD after CannibleDuckWithAnAxe. **

**M'kay so I'm gonna shut up now. XD enjoy!**

**OH YES! I almost forgot. **

**The little part about bunnies is from omnom33's review to me a while back. Obviously, omnom33 is epic, and you guys should check out the author's page.**

**One more thing. Once school starts, updates may be more infrequent, so all that review after Sept. 5 will get a sneak peek :D**

**But review now so you can get that super-duper long chappie XD there's still like 3 days left!**

CPOV

Did Jace Lightwood just ask me out?

"What?" I said stupidly, thinking I hadn't heard right.

"I know, it's crazy. This is your dream come true. Clary, will you go out with me?" he said, smirking.

I quickly considered my options. I could go out with Jace, possibly have him break my heart, and have Izzy be royally pissed at me.

Or, I could not go out with Jace, break my own heart as I watched him go out with some girl, and have Izzy not be pissed at me. But, I would have to watch Izzy make fun of Jace, and I didn't think I could stand that for much longer.

"Okay," I told Jace.

His smile grew so large, he almost looked like he was one of those clowns with a smile painted on.

"Okay, sounds good, I'll text you the details later," he said, and started to turn.

"Wait, Jace!" I called out, running towards him, and grabbing his arm.

Damn, that guy had muscles.

"Everything okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, it's just you need my number before you can text me the details, genius," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Oh- oh yea," he said, slightly sheepish.

"Guess Mr. Perfect can't always be perfect, huh Jace ," I teased, rolling my eyes.

"In your dreams, Fray. Every cell in my body screams ' Perfect!' And anyways, I'm always perfect."

"Except for that chipped canine, eh Jace," I said, smiling.

"Oh crap, how the hell did you find out about that?" he asked me, shocked.

"I've been in your mouth two times, Jace Lightwood," I said, cracking up.

Jace looked genuinely concerned that his perfect reputation was being tarnished, and I fought back a smile.

Then Jace leaned over and kissed me on the forehead, sending tingles down my body.

"Bribery is my best friend, Clarissa Fray. After Google, because how would I pass Spanish without Google translate?"

"Or even English," I said, sniggering. ( A/N: Isn't sniggering a funny word O_O )

" Ah, shut up," he said pleasantly.

I was so excited. I. Had. A. Date. With. Jace!

Now I just had to figure out how to tell Izzy…

IPOV

I saw Clary in the hallways, and she waved back nervously. Obviously, something was up, and I was going to get to the heart of it.

What Isabelle Lightwood wants, Isabelle Lightwood got.

"Clary, what's up?" I demanded.

She looked at me, almost fearfully, as if I was a time bomb about to explode any minute.

"Okay, fine, why don't you come over tonight, and you can tell me."

"Um, I can't, Izzy," she replied vaguely.

Very secretive, I thought. What was up? Usually, we told each other anything and everything.

"Why not?"

"Because, I have a date."

"With who?!" I screamed. I couldn't believe Clary had gotten asked out, and hadn't told me. I was happy for her, because that girl honestly needed to spend less time sketching, and more time outside.

"Uh… Jace?" she said, almost as if asking me a question.

I was mentally screaming at Clary, but Clary was stubborn, and I knew no matter what I said, she would go on that date. Even if it killed her.

And I knew if Clary's heart got broken down one more time, she would probably die.

But on the other hand, I'd seen the way Jace looked at her. It was the same way I did; like Clary was a delicate porcelain doll, and one more crack and she would break completely.

I know, I said that Jace kicked bunnies for fun. But maybe, just maybe, Jace had fallen for one little bunny, and wanted to help it, 'cause it wasn't everyday you saw a bunny like Clary.

So, I simply smiled at Clary, my mind reeling, and went to go yell at Jace instead.

SPOV

I was fuming, watching that Jace Lightwood kiss Clary on the forehead, and Clary flirt with him.

I almost wanted to go up to Jace and punch him, to finish what we started in the restaurant.

Because, honestly, Maia wasn't as great as I thought she would be. She was WAY too clingy, and I realized that what I desperately needed was Clary.

Clary had been my savior, but I had kicked her and stabbed her a million times over. I deserved Clary, not that Lightwood character. I would do whatever it took to get Clary back, I told myself.

So I texted the one number I knew could definitely help me.

Aline.

**A/N : next chapter will be Clary and Jace's date, I swear. CannibleDuckWithAnAxe will be an OC in the next chapter, and uhmchelsea and jackforce17 will make an appearance in the chappie after that.**

**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LLAMA SUGGESTIONS XD I LOVE LLAMAS!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: 75 REVIEWS! 75 REVIEWS! 75 REVIEWS! 75 REVIEWS! 75 REVIEWS!**

**O_O I actually got like 83 but ya know…**

**Thank you guys. When I first started writing fanfiction, I totally wasn't prepared for all this. I thought that maybe I would get a couple of reviews, and not too many views. You guys have been amazing all this time, and I just wanted to tell you guys, ( even though I say this a lot!) I love you guys.**

**I'm not kidding. My life would suck without you, ( Kelly Clarkson there, folks!).**

**Every time I get email saying I have a new follower, or somebody favorited either me or my story, or a review, I totally smile. XD you guys r awesome.**

**So thank you! **

**XOXO,**

**lolbeawesome!**

**B4 I get too sentimental, XD enjoy the extra-long chappie. **

**Oh yes, in no way do I own the marvelous Cassandra Clare's writing, or her characters.**

**All I own is my plot, and well as MY writing. **

**Ok, one more thing, then I swear I'll shut up.**

**THERE R OCs IN THIS CHAPPIE XD**

**CannibleDuckWithAnAxe- Aline's BFF (Maelle!)**

**Megan (she's my friend in reals)- random waitress :D**

**Sorry, BirdsWillFly, I didn't have enough room to put u in this chappie.**

**In the next chapter- **

**Uhmchelsea and jackforce17- with hints of CannibleDuckWithAnAxe!**

**Onward :O**

**This A/N was a page O_O just saying**

***all these people requested to be OC's, so there is no corruption of children in this ***

CPOV

I looked myself in the mirror, and I had to admit I looked pretty good. Sure, it wasn't as good as it would be if Izzy had helped me- she had refused.

But still, the girl in the mirror probably wasn't the girl I was everyday at school in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. This girl was wearing dark washed skinny jeans, a white lace tank top with delicate eyelet details, and beige ballet flats. I had kept my makeup natural, adding a bit of mascara and eyeliner, but that was it.

Now, I sat on my couch, reading an art magazine, waiting for Jace. I had a million different emotions racing through my head; excitement, nervousness, and anxiety. I wanted everything to be perfect today.

The doorbell rang, loud and clear throughout the apartment.

I took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Jace was standing in the doorway, a grin on his face, dressed in a black shirt and jeans. I swear to god, he looked like a dark angel.

How did he make jeans and a shirt look like a million bucks?

"Clary?" he asked me, waving a hand in front of me. "I know I'm good looking, but come on, and least try to pretend you're paying attention to what I'm saying."

I smiled sheepishly, then realized he was still standing in the doorway.

"Sorry! Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," said Jace easily, stepping inside.

He presented a bouquet of roses to me with a flourish, and I gasped.

"Jace Lightwood, you did not just get me roses!"

"Yes, yes I did. Beautiful roses for a beautiful lady. Speaking of which, Clary you look beautiful. You don't need all that makeup Izzy puts on you. You look even better without it."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I blushed furiously.

Jace chuckled. "Good to know I haven't lost all my charm when it comes to girls."

"Yeah, um, so do you want to go?" I asked him, finally regaining my voice.

"Yeah, sure," he said casually, giving me his arm, which I took.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"Taki's," he replied with a grin.

JPOV

Clary looked stunning. There was always something about her that made me gasp in wonder, no matter what she wore. She didn't need makeup to cover up; she was beautiful the way she was. She had a sense of grace and dignity in the way she carried herself I didn't see in many girls.

Why was it that this girl took my breath away- literally?

I had decided I would take her to Taki's, the place I went to get away from home. I mean, have you tasted their pancakes? They are so damn good.

I lead Clary to my favorite booth, where we sat down, opposite from each other.

There was an awkward pause, and then this girl came to take our orders.

"My name is Megan, and what would you like today?" she said, sneaking a peek look at me.

I hid a grin as Clary and the waitress had a stare-down.

Clary was so cute when she was jealous. As if I could actually look at any other girl while she was around.

I could see that Clary was totally clueless, so I ordered some coconut pancakes and sweet potato fries, and saw relief on her face as she ordered the same.

The food was great, as usual, but I really couldn't pay attention. That's right, I, Jace Lightwood, was officially in love with a girl.

Scary day for all of us, I know.

This date had been pretty much perfect. I had this peculiar feeling that Clary was like the one I had been waiting for. It was time to give up the little player façade I had playing at.

"Clary," I said haltingly. "I had an amazing time, and I know it's kinda early, but will you be my girlfriend."

She paused for a minute, then nodded grinning.

"I will, if you will be my boyfriend."

"Yep," I said, nodding my head.

God, I sounded like an idiot. Why couldn't I think straight when she was around?

We were on our way to Clary's house- I was dropping her off- when suddenly, Clary froze.

I turned around in surprise. What I saw made me clench my fists.

Aline and Sebastian were walking down the street together, with Aline's best friend Maelle tagging along behind them. When they saw us, they smirked in that We're-so-much-cooler-than-you attitude. If I had known what was coming later, I would have run as fast as I can.

APOV

I saw Jace with that slut Clary, and I swear my blood pressure rose.

She didn't deserve him, and she wouldn't ever deserve him.

I didn't see what Sebastian saw in Clary, but I was willing to let him have her. After all, I would get Jace, and everything would go the way I wanted to.

I wasn't sure why I had brought Maelle, because, well honestly she was prettier than me, and I didn't want Jace to fall for her.

But hey, she was violent, and maybe she could beat up Clary for me. That girl could use a little talking-to.

"Hey, Maelle," I said, "Why don't you go beat up Clary for me?"

Maelle sighed, then I visibly saw her get taller.

"No way, Aline. I'm tired of being your little bully. Anyways, I don't wanna be a bitch anymore."

And with that, she walked away.

What the hell was her problem? Who didn't want to be popular like me? Even though Maelle was ten times prettier than me, I had still taken her in.

And what did I get in return? Nothing, except the fact that she wouldn't beat up my enemy.

"Just ignore her," Sebastian suggested. "We'll get to them eventually."

"How about you go beat up Jace for me now?" I asked.

"No, I'd rather save it for a time when Jace would be publicly humiliated."

"We're in New York, Sebastian. No matter where we are, Jace will get publicly humiliated."

CPOV

Jace had been different than what I'd thought he'd be. He was kinder, and honestly it felt like he'd let me into his mind.

I felt a shiver of excitement as Jace kissed me good night. Even the thought of being Jace's girlfriend made me giddy with excitement.

Because Jace possessed this quality to make me feel loved, and safe. With Sebastian, it had felt that way, too, except there had always been this cold distance I'd tried to ignore.

No matter what I could have done, it wouldn't have mattered. Because I belonged in Jace's arms, where I could hide from the rest of the world if I wanted to.

Yeah, that's the effect Jace had on me. I could be standing in a full room, and I wouldn't have cared. All I could've seen was Jace. Like at Taki's, there were plenty of guys checking me out, but all I could care about was Jace.

Which was why I hated it when other girls looked at Jace. They were all more beautiful than I was, and I wanted Jace to be _mine._

Do you know what it's like to love and be loved? Because when you're in love, you will do anything to protect the ones you love. Anything.

**That's my super long chappie guys XD 7 pages of awesomeness!**

**100 reviews and Jace will beat up Sebastian soo bad, and Sebastian will be the one publicly humiliated.**

**If not – shrug – **

**Lol :D hope you liked this chappie!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: 100 REVIEWS!**

**OMG U GUYS R EPICNESS!**

**Hehe… anyways, do you guys know how violent you are? I swear to god, most of you said something along the lines of, "Let's kill Sebastian"**

**I'm sorry, Seb buddy. Run while you can… like before this chapter starts.**

**I'm aiming for 125 reviews, just letting you know :D**

**There's a playlist for Familiar Stranger on youtube- XxMaggieElmjewelxX, I'll be adding more music!**

**Last day before school starts, so updates will prolly start to slow down now… sry :( **

**Anyways, I love you all :D**

**lolbeawesome**

**ok ok before I shut up, a couple OC's in this chappie**

**uhmchelsea- Coach Chelsea (she's writing this amazing story called "How I met my Angel, and if you haven't, you should start reading it.)**

**jackforce17- Principal Glenda (I love you Glenda! Since the beginning, my friend :D )**

**Ok, I'll shut up so you can satisfy your violent cravings…**

**OH WAIT XD I don't own TMI, or any of the characters. Except maybe the OC's, but they're based off of real ppl… so not rly.**

**Ok now I'll really shut up.**

**NOTE: I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED CHAPPIE 9 AGAIN EARLIER!**

CPOV

I woke up, ready to stay in bed all day, reminiscing about my perfect date with Jace.

Of course, it was a school day, and when I looked at the clock, I gasped in shock. It was 6:45, and school started at 7:15. I quickly got ready, then putting on jeans, a t-shirt that said 'Make love, not Horcruxes' on it, and minimal make-up. My hair, I just put in a messy ponytail.

Not bad, I considered, looking at myself. Yes, Izzy wouldn't approve, but considering I got ready in under thirty minutes, pretty good. But then again, Izzy woke up at like 4:30 to get ready. Don't ask me why, because even though Izzy is my best friend, I don't even pretend to understand all of her.

I basically ran to school, which wasn't so bad, because it was only a couple blocks away. Izzy always insisted on driving to school, because she didn't want to ruin her hair. Again, I don't understand Izzy.

I dashed into homeroom, just barely before the late bell rang, and sighed in relief.

Jace looked over at me and smirked. I noticed he did that a lot, for some weird reason.

"Late, Fray?" he asked me, leaning over for a kiss.

I obliged, pecking him on the lips quickly. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Sebastian turn away in anger. He deserved it, that heartless jerk. I wanted him to suffer like I did.

So this time I made more of a show, leaning towards him, and giving him a deep, passionate kiss.

Mr. Hodge glared at us, and we quickly stopped.

I smirked at all the girls who looked at me jealously. Even after a day, Jace was rubbing off on me.

Sad to think how much he would rub off on me if we stayed together for a while.

JPOV

One of the classes I had with Clary was gym, and I have to say, that was pretty lucky.

Do you have any idea how sexy girls look in those short shorts? And I have to say, Clary looked pretty good.

I saw Sebastian eyeing Clary as well, and I thought it was time to make a point with him. I mean, the guy cheated her for the two years they were together, and then he eyes her? No way I was going to let that happen, especially since Clary was my girlfriend. Yeah, I'd seen Clary's heart break, and I was going to put it together, no matter how long it took.

"Hey, Verlac," I growled, "That's my girlfriend you're looking at there. Stay away from her, I don't want you breaking her heart again."

"No way, Lightwood. She may be your girlfriend for now, but pretty soon I'll get my Clary back," he said with a cold determination.

I was taken aback. So this guy had realized how much Clary was worth. She was much more than any cheerleader, by far.

But no way was I letting him near Clary again.

"Lightwood, Verlac, talking?" Coach Chelsea asked, blowing her whistle.

Coach Chelsea did love that whistle of hers, and she didn't put up with anybody's crap. You messed with her, you ended up doing fifty laps or push-ups till Doomsday.

We quickly hushed up, but still glared at each other.

Jace Lightwood, arguing over a girl, I thought sarcastically. Dude, she's got you sooo whipped.

But the funny thing was I didn't mind.

Apparently, Coach Chelsea was still talking, and I had spaced out.

"Verlac, Lightwood, fifty laps, NOW!" she yelled, blowing her whistle.

The whole time, Sebastian was muttering something about getting Clary back.

At like the sixth lap, something inside me broke. I was tired of Sebastian talking about getting my girlfriend back.

So I punched Sebastian, not caring about the consequences.

I felt great. I had punched the douchebag, and now I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

"You're so in for it Verlac," I growled aggressively, not caring that people had gathered around us.

Aline was starting up a chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! "

There was only one person who wasn't chanting, and my heart broke when I saw her there.

But I was doing this for her.

So I rammed Sebastian with everything I had, punching him in places he shouldn't be punched.

Hey, I'd be surprised if he ever had kids after what I gave him.

He came back at me, charging.

Somewhere, remotely in my mind, I knew I was bleeding, but I didn't care. I was in the zone now, and I wasn't planning on stopping.

"Stay away from Clary," I fumed. "She's MINE!"

Students were cheering, chanting us on, when I was thinking how sick this was.

They wanted me to fight, to see some blood.

And the one girl I actually cared about didn't.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that someday, once I got out of this, I was going to give Clary everything I had.

Aline screamed something along the lines of, "Go Sebastian! Beat him up! But make sure his face stays pretty!"

I told you I was handsome, didn't I.

So I went on and on, to what seemed like what was forever, or only a second.

Until I heard a satisfying crunch from Sebastian.

I blinked then, broken out of my trance.

God, Sebastian looked awful. His arm was twisted at an unnatural angle, so I had probably broken it. He had a black eye, too, and a couple of bruises swelling up.

Doing a mental inventory, I knew that I just had a couple of bruises that were swelling, and a little bit of blood. I had fared a lot better than Sebastian.

Now Coach Chelsea was coming over, with Principal Glenda.

I gulped as they came over.

They helped Sebastian up, and then he had taken off, saying something about his car.

"I guess that's that," Principal Glenda said with a sigh.

"Jace Lightwood, this is a warning. Do not fight in my school again," she said, but I swore I heard a smile in her voice.

As soon as she left, Coach Chelsea congratulated me, saying that she'd waited forever to see Sebastian take his own medicine.

Now, all I needed to find was Clary.

SPOV

This wasn't part of the plan, me getting humiliated. It was supposed to be him, in the position I was.

Now here I was, in the emergency room with a broken arm, and Jace had just walked away. Even Coach Chelsea had congratulated him.

I felt a wave of anger settle around me, clouding my vision.

Red, it was red. Like the color of her hair, I thought.

No matter what it took, I swore, I would get Clarissa Fray to be mine again.

**Remember, kiddies, 125 reviews or bust!**

**XD anyways I love you all. Thanx for a hundred reviews. Hope you liked this chappie.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Well, here we are folks. Past 10 chapters now, onto 11.**

**Seems like only yesterday I was that random kid who refused to let anybody- and I mean anybody read my writing.**

**So thank you, for all your support.**

**One of my favorite authors, Sarah Dessen, once said something along the lines of, "It takes one author to write a story, but a townful of people to support that author."**

**I'm amazed how true it is. I've gotten 125 reviews- 125 reasons I should continue writing. I have 50-something followers, and 20-something favorites. Every chapter I write, I'm like, would these people like it? **

**So thank you.**

**Of course, in no way, shape or form, do I own TMI or any of the characters in this story. They all belong to the lovely Cassie Clare. Except for the OC's, I suppose I own them in a sense, but they are actual people soo….**

**I'm gonna shut up O_O**

**150 reviews?**

**Also, every reviews from now on gets a sneak peak- only if it takes me more than a day to upload. If not, then sry guys! I'll wat I can do.**

**Remember, there's a playlist- XxMaggieElmjewelxX**

**Ok, now I'm really gonna shut up, I swear.**

CPOV

They had fought, Jace and Sebastian. They were the two boys that had defined my past, present, and future.

And now they were against each other, and I watched for a minute, almost mesmerized by the power the two carried. The air of arrogance both these guys carried wasn't exactly transparent.

And then I was sickened. Sickened at the people who urged them on, wanting to see blood gush out.

I turned around and started heading anywhere, everywhere but here. I caught Jace's eye for a moment, nodding at him, a part of my mind hoping he would beat up Sebastian enough to make his pain equivalent to mine.

Because those with power, or those who think they have power, and always the ones that will hurt others.

_Flashback!_

_I was five years old, and the kind of kid who still carried a teddy bear around._

_It wasn't my fault. If you had had the hellish nightmare of a life I had, you would understand. _

_Here it came again- my father. It didn't deserve to be called human in any sense. He was hungry for power, almost to a degree where he was completely drunk on greed._

_And it's favorite target to show it's power was me, yours truly._

_I screamed in horror as he approached me with a blade, glinting silver in the dim light._

_He carved into my skin, and I was too shocked, too in pain to even scream._

_My mother came downstairs from her studio, probably to start cooking dinner or something. She meant well, but because she spent so much time locked up with her paintings, she never saw this other side of my father._

_She gasped when she saw my father with a blade near me. The few maternal instincts she had back then._

"_Valentine Morgensten, get the hell away from my child," she said, screaming at him, beating him down._

"_Jocelyn…" he whispered._

"_No," she said firmly. _

_To me, in a more gentle voice, she said, "Are you okay, sweetie?"_

_I whimpered, and shook my head no._

_She looked at my wounds, running her cool, gentle fingers through my hair in a soothing fashion. Then, she took me upstairs, putting bandages on my wounds, and then throwing some money and clothes into a bag._

"_Come on, sweetie, we've leaving," she told me._

_I followed her without complaint._

_That was the last I ever saw of my father._

_End flashback!_

JPOV

I saw Clary near a brick wall, just sitting there, motionless. She looked almost like a porcelain doll, with her ivory skin.

I slowly walked up to her.

"Clary? Are you okay?" I asked her.

She opened her eyes, and looked at me.

"Yeah, just remembering. Sometimes it feels like it would be easiest to forget, you know? But then, it's like I would rather hurt than feel nothing at all. I have to remember, for those who forget."

"What are you talking about?" I asked her, confused.

She laughed weakly, then as if she was really seeing me for the first time all day, her eyes widened.

"Jace… what happened?" she whispered.

"Sebastian," I replied grimly. "But he's in the emergency room right now, I broke his arm."

She gasped, withdrawing from me for a moment, and in that brief second I almost thought I lost her.

"Don't worry, Clary. I'm sure he'll be good as new eventually, though. I'm sure he'll love that pink cast."

"Pink cast?"

"I might have possibly called my brother Alec, who works at the ER, and told him to give Sebastian a pink cast."

She giggled for a moment then, a sweet, childish, innocent laugh.

I began kissing her then, unable to keep myself away. As I put my hand under her shirt, I stopped for a minute.

Clary had scars. Like I've-been-abused-scars.

"Clary… what?"

She looked absolutely miserable in that moment, and I remembered Izzy saying something about Clary shutting out the world.

Hey, maybe my sister does say useful things about stuff other than fashion. Over the breaks I spent at the Lightwoods, I'd learned to zone Izzy out as she complained about how my pants didn't match my shirts or some crap.

It was easier than punching her, right?

I turned back to Clary then, who had tears streaming down her face.

"Jace," she whispered, "I'm a broken piece of crap."

With that, she laughed bitterly, as if accepting her own fate.

I hugged her tight.

"Clarissa Fray, I will take as long as it takes to fix you. Why? Because you're not the worthless piece of crap you think you are. You're the beautiful thing I've ever seen. I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, finally cracking a smile.

"Good. And we wouldn't want to miss Sebastian's pink cast, now would we?" I asked her, smirking.

**Ok guys, here's chapter 11. Whaddya say? **

**150 reviews?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay, so I didn't really get to 150 reviews guys**

**How about 160 reviews this time? Seems reasonable, right?**

**XD Sebastian sorry about the pink cast, blame Jace and Alec.**

**In no way shape or form do I own TMI or the characters. Even the OC's… well they own themselves :D**

**O_O enjoy!**

**Wait…. Omnom33 wanted the cast to be hot pink.. I didn't care, so omnom33 here's to you!**

**Oh yea, one more thing. If any of you like to go shopping, there's some sweet deals at Hollister right now. I got this super cute skirt for like $7 dollars. It's in redlines, and right now its 50% off redlines at Hollister!**

SPOV

I looked at my cast in complete disbelief. It was pink. A hot, bright pink.

I gritted my teeth, infuriated enough that I wanted to punch something hard enough to break my other arm.

But, with my luck, it would probably end in another hot pink cast.

I scowled again, just proving my bad mood. And when I was in a bad mood, you definitely didn't want to cross me.

How was Clary going to take me seriously now? Her boyfriend probably was laughing his head off this minute. My ER doctor's name was Alec Lightwood, and I was presuming he was that asshat Jace's brother. Before I could give him a piece of my mind, though, he ran off somewhere with his sparkly boyfriend.

Asshat, I thought wryly. Clary had rubbed off on me, after all.

Have you heard that saying, if you love somebody, let them go, and if they love you, they'll come back to you?

That's utter crap. If I knew the philosopher who wrote that, he would have a black eye by now. The truth is, if you love somebody, and they love you, you would never let go of each other.

I wasn't letting Clary go- even if it meant breaking all the bones you could humanly break.

Even if it meant resorting to extreme measures.

Google was my best friend, because well you could look up random stuff, and get answers. It was even more reliable than Wikipedia (shocker, I know!).

I searched two words. Isn't it funny how two worlds can change your life, and so many other people's lives too?

I searched the words Valentine Morgensten.

CPOV

I laughed idiotically as Sebastian walked into school the next day, the hot pink cast in stark contrast to the dark clothing he was wearing.

"The asshat! He deserves it!" I said laughing, as Sebastian glared at all the passerby in the halls staring in amusement at his cast.

Jace raised an eyebrow. "Did you just say asshat?"

Damn, everybody except for me could raise an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes I did. Hats are cooler than jacks, at any rate," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, I think it's kinda cute," he whispered, his breath hot in my ear.

Sometimes, I wished I could run away with Jace, say, "Screw you," to the past, and never look back.

"Anyways, got a date tonight?" he asked me casually, leaning back on his locker.

"Yes, yes she does," Izzy said, interrupting me before I could say anything.

I was shocked, because I thought Izzy would never talk to me again. She had avoiding me as much as possible, spending time at Simon's when I went over to her place. I think I had send her about twenty million texts before I realized she wasn't going to pick up.

"What?" I asked her, a dazed grin on my face.

Sometimes, I am such an idiot.

"Yep, we're going shopping!" she said authoritatively.

I moaned for a second, giving Jace puppy eyes. He shrugged at me grinning, because we all knew who was going to win. Izzy.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"Because you need new clothes. And I need new shoes so I can break Sebastian's other arm. Did you know stilettos hurt? I accidently stepped on Simon's toe once, and he said it was hell. I wonder if there's any good sales going on right now," she said, blabbering.

I smiled at her, linking my arms with hers. I really had missed her, blabbering and all. Heck, I even missed being her personal Barbie doll.

Izzy was back, and my life was okay again. Even if it meant shopping till I literally dropped, I was happy.

JPOV

Do you know that quote from South Park, about gingers having no souls? I think it's hilarious, simply because of how wrong it is.

I mean, if you met Clary, you would understand. She was like a female version of Santa Claus. Except she had red hair. And green eyes. And wasn't as fat- probably because she didn't steal cookies from innocent children like Santa did.

See, she was nicer than Santa.

I half-smiled as I saw Izzy dragging Clary down the hallway, probably to catch up on some gossip. And I had to chuckle when I saw the height difference, the already tall Izzy in heels and my adorably short girlfriend in sneakers.

Yeah, I was pissed at Izzy for stealing my girlfriend away for a bit. I didn't even get my kiss.

But revenge is so underrated- it's even sweeter than one of those chocolate-covered-chocolate-covered-chocolate-covered-chocolate contraptions.

In the meantime, I tried to figure out about Clary's past.

Two words caught my eye; Valentine Morgensten.

**Ok, there you go! Chapter 12! Cannot wait for Friday to come around already.**

**160, guys? If you do, something seriously unfortunate might just happen to Sebastian…. XD**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: It's Friday, can I get a what what? XD TGIF, you know? **

**Of course, my teachers thought, "Geez, kids have no life outside of school, so lets give them more homework than on a normal school day!" **

**O_o The result: wayyy too much homework. But I'm trying to get it outta the way now, so I can update more! xD**

**Speaking of this story, WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW 164 review guys!**

**I think most of you just wanted something bad to happen to Sebastian. O_O you cruel heartless people. Jk I think everybody wants Sebastian to die, just a little bit. I'm sorry Seb, buddy, o_o for writing this horrible story about you. **

**Maybe I'll learn how to write someday :O! **

**Yeah, I know I suck :P but you love me anyways don't you, you beautiful amazing people! **

**Hugs and virtual cookies for you all! And just because I'm an amazingly nice person, I wrote a little bit of the next chapter and attached it to this Document.**

**You love, me don't you? **

**O_O anyways, I want 180 reviews plz plz plz plz – puppy eyes –**

**Birdswillfly has been asking for ages to be an OC in a chapter, so sorry I didn't ever get around to it! Here ya go, you get to insult Seb. Hope it makes it better.**

**Anyways, you obviously know I don't own TMI, because if I did, my writing might actually be like good :O I own nothing but my writing. **

**180 reviews!**

CPOV

It felt good to be back with Izzy, laughing and gossiping. I mean, yeah, I had had Jace, but having a boyfriend is not equivalent to having a best friend.

And then I groaned as she made me try on the millionth dress. And yes, I did mean millionth.

"It's perfect," she squealed, making me cover my ears at the high pitched sound.

I looked in the mirror, and I had to say, the dress really did do something for me. It hugged my minimal curves, also making me look like I actually had a chest.

The dress itself was a willowy green color, a little less than knee length, with a sweetheart strapless neckline. In one word, it was, as Izzy had said, perfect.

"I dunno," I said, shrugging my shoulders, and spinning around a bit. "I mean, when would I wear this?"

"To the upcoming, dance, duh," replied in her come-on-Clary-THINK voice.

"What dance?" I asked, totally confused. The last couple of weeks had left me kind of dazed.

"The one NEXT WEEK, Clary!" Izzy gasped, as if this was a great injustice to humankind. Oh no, guys, sound the alarm. Clarissa Fray didn't know about the upcoming dance. Who cared about world peace anyways?

"Oh, right, I knew that!"

"No you didn't, Clary. I just told you, and you were totally shocked."

"What if I was just testing you?"

"Uh huh, yea no, Clary. I've known you for like forever, and I know you like I know my way around the mall."

I sighed defeated, holding my hands up in the air, surrendering.

"That's right, Clary. Who was right, who is always right? Isabelle Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood," she said in a singsongy voice.

I laughed, and Izzy laughed too.

"Just admit I'm amazing, and then I won't take you to another boutique, or anything remotely related to shopping."

I fell down to my knees, looking at Isabelle as if she was a god or something.

"You, Isabelle Lightwood, are amazing beyond words can describe," I said in a mocking tone.

"I know I am!" she replied. "Now, c'mon lets get outta here!"

SPOV

I sat in a stool in the nearest bar, drinking my god-knows-what-number-this-was drink.

I didn't care, didn't know. If I squinted a little bit, the pink cast almost looked red.

I gasped as I saw a beautiful girl with ivory skin, and flowing red hair.

"Clary…?" I whispered, lurching forward.

It wasn't Clary, as much as I wished it to be. This girl was like five foot four, which was much taller than Clary. Still, maybe she could help me to forget.

"Hi there," I said, slurring just a little bit.

She turned and smiled at me, her lovely smile reaching her eyes.

"Hi. I'm Jennifer!" she said, happily. I envied her; the girl knew how to be happy.

"I'm Sebastian," I replied, "Want to be my girlfriend?"

Yeah, it was kinda quick, but I was drunk, and the girl reminded me too much of Clary. I couldn't help myself.

Her smile changed abruptly into a scowl. Her hand came up quickly, reaching towards my face. I felt the sharp, hard sensation of Jennifer slapping me.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" she asked, laughing bitterly. "You're that Sebastian guy, the one they all say to avoid. And believe, me, I'm going to run as fast as I can."

And she left me, there, all alone. Yeah, way to boot my self -esteem, I thought.

Because the worst feeling in the world is being alone.

JPOV

Do you know how much homework teachers give on Fridays? It's like they expect us to have nothing to do except say, "Hey, I have no life! Why don't I be a total nerd and do a bunch of homework?"

Like I said before, I was never going to set foot in a school as soon as I graduated.

When it really got weird was when Aline showed up at my door, and said she wanted to talk.

"About what?" I asked, her, not withholding my disgust for her. "I have a beautiful girlfriend that I love. You are nothing to me anymore."

"Are you sure about, that, Jacey?" she asked me, her voice sugar-sweet. Seriously, if you could eat voices, I would be on a sugar high.

"Yes, Aline. And. Don't. Call. Me. Jacey!" I said, teeth gritted.

"Jacey," she replied, pouting a bit, and fluttering her eyelashes in what I supposed to her was an attractive sort of way.

"Get the hell out of my house, Aline," I said.

"Not without this," she said, smirking a little now, her voice coated in a thin layer of venom.

And she leaned over and kissed me, her lips tasting like that artificial cherry flavoring I hated. I was revolted, and shocked enough to stay there for an entirely too long moment.

When I looked up, the first thing I saw were green eyes. Beautiful emerald eyes, filled with shock and glistening with tears.

**End of this chapter… Here's a sneak peak at the next chapter… because I'm just that awesome :D**

IPOV

I walked into my house, with Clary in tow, to give her a makeover, of course. She was smiling in her happy way, the rare kind of grin you see on a person's face when they are really, truly, happy.

I saw Clary's expression change in a millisecond, her green eyes widened with shock and tears that hadn't fallen yet.

I looked over to see the one and only jerk I call my brother kissing Aline.

Good thing we had cookie dough ice cream at home.

**Pretty pretty please review :D**

**Yes, you, reading my screen there. I get over 400 visitors on this story daily, and do you know how many of them review? Like, a teeny tiny fraction of them. **

**So, even if you're reviewing as a guest, I don't care. **

**Lol, I love reviews. They make me write faster – nudge nudge, wink wink – **

**So 180 reviews?**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: You beautiful, lovely, kind people, thank you. **

**Yesterday, and today, I had so many people review; new faces and old faces alike. If you're an author, then you understand.**

**To have so many people liking- and appreciating your work is simply astounding. So many people have told me that someday I will become an author; I don't know what I'll become. But if I do ever publish a book, please know that it will be dedicated to all of you.**

**You made me believe. **

**So, guys, all chapters are dedicated to you, but this chapter especially is dedicated to you.**

**200 reviews? **

**And of course, in no way, shape, or form do I own TMI, or the characters in this story. They are all owned by the extremely talented Cassandra Clare, and the OC's basically own themselves.**

**M'kay, here's chapter 14, (hard to believe, huh?)**

**Ok, for all the OC's. I honestly didn't plan on so many OC's, but that's totally OK. Surprises are good, right? The only thing is I have no idea where I'm going to put you all.**

**So none in this chapter, sorry. **

**Onwards!**

**Wait, about the sneak peak- I'm not writing it in this chappie. It was a sneak peek in the sense to kinda give you an idea on what was happening next!**

CPOV

I stood there in complete shock as my _boyfriend _kissed my enemy. Do you know the feeling; when it's like life is a movie, and you are just watching it?

That was how I felt, in that moment, watching Jace kiss another girl. That girl, that was supposed to be me he was kissing. It was me whose hands should be tangled up in his hair, hips on hips, legs on legs. But it wasn't. It was Aline, and I felt sickened to the core.

And then the tears started to come, spilling over my face in streaks. My mascara started to run, making me look like a raccoon. I turned my face, angrily wiping away the tears, not willing to let Jace see the pain he caused me.

I heard Izzy gasp somewhere in the background, and Jace roughly telling Aline to leave. It was all muted, like somebody had turned the volume off the movie of my life.

"Clary, it's okay," I heard Izzy tell me, her hand clinging tight to mine.

"No, no it's not," I said, surprised in how much venom my voice contained. The poison was towards Jace, who I thought I would never speak to like this. I had thought I would always be in love.

But love hurts, too.

I saw Jace come up to me, his face full of explanation.

"Save it, Jace," I snarled, pushing him away with my hands.

I knew that I was weak with anger, and that he could avoid my push easily. But he didn't, though I couldn't tell if it was because he didn't want me, or because he knew I needed space.

His beautiful face stared at me, and I was filled with an undeniable_ need _to just go up to him and kiss him. To prove to him that I was better than Aline, to show him how much I loved him. But I couldn't, not now.

The chinks in my armor were showing now, cracking slowly, slowly until there was nothing left.

So I did the best thing I could; I ran into Izzy's room.

IPOV

I couldn't believe what I had seen; my jackass of a brother kissing Aline. A match made in heaven, I thought bitterly. A player and a slut.

Why was it that I had thought that Jace had loved Clary so much? I had seen it in his eyes; the way life had a purpose now. At times, Jace had almost seemed human again.

Jace punched the table, defeated, eyes wild.

"Dammit, Izzy. I love her!" he practically screamed, choking on his own tears.

I was taken aback, by the depth of Jace's love for her, something I had only seen on the surface; a kiss, the holding of hands. Here was something that could be called love, and it ran deep in their veins.

Suddenly, I saw how much the completed each other. I envied them.

"How much?" I asked, my voice soft.

"So, so much. More than words can describe. She's my world. I can't lose her, I just can't!" he said, crying.

Jace Lightwood could be called a man, even if no others could. And here he was, crying in front of me. It changed my mind about the prejudice I had about their love. Ever heard the saying, " A picture paints a thousand words?"

It's true. The sight of Jace there, broken, was more than Jace and Clary convincing me could ever do.

"Go after her, then," I replied, nodding my head in Clary's general direction.

"What if she won't forgive me? What if she goes back to Sebastian? What if… what if she doesn't love me anymore?"

"Of course she loves you, you dumbass. Did you really think she would hurt this much if she wasn't completely heads over heels for you? God, men are such a lost cause."

"Hey! Men are not lost causes. Women are the ones who are confusing, with all their weird subtext."

"Because we can think?"

"Men can think. Why do you think all major discoveries were made by men?"

"Not true. Now stop procrastinating and go after your girlfriend already. There will be plenty of time for arguing later," I said, a wicked grin on my face.

He shrugged, and started to head upstairs.

"Faster! Jace, I can climb mountains with my heels on faster."

He started running, then, as desperation hit him.

I gave myself a mental high five, then started eating the cookie dough ice cream. Looked like Clary didn't need it anymore.

JPOV

Why was it, that around Clary, nothing ever happened right? I was a bumbling idiot around her, whereas with any other girl, I was the smooth-talking guy everybody wanted.

Yeah, I think that guy in that store I went to the other day wanted me. Good thing I was in a relationship, or you would be all over me. You know you would be.

I approached Izzy's door, and took a deep breath, partly because of Clary, and partly because I hated the color pink- which Izzy had way too much of in her room.

My heart broke all over again, watching Clary cry like that.

"Oh, Clary," I whispered, going nearer her.

"Jace." She said it not as a question, but as a statement.

And then I couldn't control myself anymore. I was all over her, every cell in my being screaming for Clary.

At first I kissed her, slow and passionate, full of sorries and promises of a distant future.

Then, it became more passionate, faster and heated, my adrenaline building higher and higher, until it was almost touching the sky.

Then I stopped, cupping Clary's tiny face in my hands.

"I love you, so, so much Clary. It's wasn't me- it was.."

She stopped me, cutting me off with a kiss, slow and tender.

A half-strangled scream came from my mouth, as I thought about how much I needed her, and what I would do without her.

"I know," she said softly, as if talking normally would change the mood. "I shouldn't have doubted you."

"All I need is you, Clary. I need you, all I need is you," I said, practically sobbing. Again.

She held on to me, tightly, tighter, until I felt like I couldn't stand being any farther away from her.

She clung to me as if I was a lifeboat, and she was holding on for her life. Not that I minded.

And we sat there, two broken shells of humans, holding on to each other as if we would never, ever let go.

**A/N: So Clace fluffiness in there! Yayayaya! O_O I love clace fluffiness, don't you?**

**Anyways, review if you want Jace to give Clary whatever it is he bought her (oh, yea it's not a ring if that's what you're wondering. Dude, they've known each other for like a month XD )**

**200 reviews?**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: OMG THANK YOU GUYS SOOOOOOO MUCH :D  
**

**211 reviews- I'm impressed! As always, I love you guys!**

**Uh yeaa… that's pretty much all I have to say. **

**This chapter takes place at the dance- the one Izzy was talking about a couple of chapters ago.**

**Wow, 15 chapters, really hard to believe. I'm really enjoying writing this story yay :D**

**One song I really listened to while writing this was:**

**If my heart was a home by Owl City (Hoot Owls yeaa buddy!), and of course Only Exception by Paramore!**

**Of course, I don't own TMI or related characters. All I own is my own writing!**

CPOV

I stood in the mirror, admiring my reflection. Normally, I wasn't vain and didn't look in the mirror much, but I was really happy on how I looked.

The dress I had bought with Izzy a while back fit on me like it was practically made for me. It was knee-length, with a sweetheart neckline willow green, and it highlighted my eyes, as well showing what curves and chest I had .My red hair had been straightened, and clasped back with a sparkling crystal clip. I had put on a bit of shimmering green eye shadow, as well as some clear lipgloss.

"You look beautiful," said a voice, and I turned around, where Jace stood in the doorframe.

He was wearing a dark black tux, and he looked like a dark angel.

"Yeah, thanks," I said, blushing a little bit. "This dress makes me feel like Tinkerbell, though."

"You certainly have the height," he replied, chuckling.

I stuck my tongue out at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Really, what is this Clary? Second grade?"

"I do have the height to be in second grade."

"Yeah, well, all the second grade teachers would be too busy staring at me to teach."

"Jeez, Jace. Vanity is not necessarily a good thing. Maybe you should marry your mirror."

"Yeah, well then how would I marry you someday?"

At that last sentence, I blushed furiously, retorting, "Yeah, well, go back to your old ways."

"Never," Jace replied sincerely, and I was amazed at how much he let his walls down around me.

"Speaking of which, I have something for you, Clary."

"Giving the gift of yourself is not valid, Jace."

"I know, I learned that the hard way," he said, flashing a sexy grin.

He pulled out a dark blue rectangular box, and as he opened it, my breath caught.

It was a sparkling diamond pendant, set on a delicate silver chain. I was a complete idiot when it came to jewelry, but I could tell it was worth a lot.

"Jace…" I whispered.

"It reminded me of you," he said, putting the necklace on me, his soft hands lingering for a moment on my neck.

"You know, I'm still missing something," I replied.

"And would that be, Clary?"

And with that, I leaned towards him, closing the gap between as much as I could, on my tippy toes. He did the rest, leaning down towards me, his warm lips touching mine.

"Now it's perfect," I said, smiling.

Then, suddenly, the door opened, and Izzy stood there, looking as gorgeous as usual. Her long, one-shoulder, gold dress looked stunning on her, as well as highlighting her black eyes.

"C'mon, move your lazy asses already," she complained, obviously wanting to get to the dance.

I smiled at her once, and she smiled happily back at me, clearly content, Simon grasping one of her hands.

"So, what exactly happens at these school dances?" Jace asked me, and I blinked.

I had forgotten that Jace was relatively new, because he had just seemed to fit in to my life.

"Basically, you dress up, half the student body gets drunk, and girls get into fights over guys."

"Sounds like fun," Jace said, grinning.

"Yup, I'm sure you'll be part of the half that gets drunk."

SPOV

I waited outside, the cold air making me impatient to get inside.

He was late, and I absolutely hated people who were late.

Finally, he showed up, dressed nicely for a man I would have thought would have been in jail. He was wearing a designer suit- Gucci, I thought.

"You know where Clarissa and Jocelyn are?" he asked me, his voice slightly raspy, as if he didn't talk to many people.

I nodded my head, giving their location to this man. Yeah, Clary might think I was a dickhead now, but later she would be thanking me.

"So, you're Clary's father?" I asked, wanting to break the awkward silence.

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head, a smile lighting on his face.

I gulped for a second, noticing the smile he put on his face wasn't the typical I'm-so-proud-to-be-a-parent smile. It was more ominous, as if he had darker intentions.

I shook off the feeling, though. All parents loved their children, right?

And I could just imagine Clary's face when she knew I did this. She would love me again, I was sure.

JPOV

I stood on the edge of the crowd, Clary's tiny hand lost in my large one. I grinned as I sensed her discomfort around so many people.

"Get out much?" I asked her sarcastically.

"Shut up, Jace," she replied, then perked up as a new song showed up.

"I love this song, c'mon Jace," she said, happily.

It was "The Only Exception," by Paramore, and all around us couples were dancing close.

Izzy winked at me, then gestured towards Clary.

I grasped Clary's waist, and she reached towards my neck. We stayed there for a while, swaying to the music.

"You know Clary," I whispered, "You really are the only exception."

"I know," she said, just as quietly.

And we stayed there for what was either eternity, or a couple of minutes, perfectly content in the other's company.

"I love you," I told her, and I didn't even have to hear her hushed reply to know the answer.

And in that one moment, life was completely perfect, and I could live and breathe that single moment forever.

Until when I dropped Clary back off at her place. Then, all hell broke loose.

**230 reviews guys? I think u can do it :D :D**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry this update took a while. I've been completely and utterly lost in a sea of homework. Enough said, homework sucks.**

**O_O but yea, you guys know how that goes. I'm really trying to get into honors classes once I get into high school, so I'm really working my butt off right now XD**

**So here's the next chapter. The song I really listened to is Pumped up Kicks by Foster the people, for some reason.**

**Of course, in no way shape or form do I own TMI, or related characters. That all belongs to the lovely, talented Cassandra Clare. All I own is my own writing. If you want to use my work for something (God knows why you would,) you have to get permission for me. **

**Without further ado, I present to you, Chapter 16! **

**Also, I'm aiming 250 reviews. Sound reasonable?**

JPOV

I looked around grimly, surveying the area that used to be Clary's apartment. Now, it was just another crime scene; broken windows, furniture moved as if there had been a struggle, and to cap it all off, blood on the floor.

Looking at Clary, I was shocked to see how much she had withdrawn herself from the world. She was curled into a teeny-tiny ball, and her face was pale and tight.

"Clary," I said, trying to get her to emit any sound at all, preferably a laugh, "You look paler than Edward right now."

No response.

Sighing, I walked over to where she was sitting, pulling her into my lap. She stayed there, like a rag doll, only moving when I made her.

It was like a sick, twisted version of those crime murder scene games I used to play with Izzy's barbies. And if you tell anybody about that, I will come after you and kill you.

An officer came up to me, and I had to admit, she was pretty damn hot. She had quite a rack, I thought. And then I mentally slapped myself.

"Officer… Daciana?" I asked, looking at her badge. She was about 5'7, which made her about ten times the size of Clary.

She hesitated for a moment, as if afraid to say what she was going to say.

"We don't know where she is," she said finally.

"Who took her?" I asked, desperately not wanting it to be who I thought it was.

" Valentine Morgensten."

CPOV

My eyes shot open. Valentine Morgensten. That was my dad, the one I had nightmares about. My father had kidnapped my mother.

"What?" I said, probably sharper than I intended.

I saw Jace look at me in surprise. So he didn't expect me to talk. Well, it was good to surprise your boyfriend sometimes.

Yeah, I'm not really the kind who gives their boyfriend chocolate or some meaningless crap.

"I'm sorry," she said, and left, hand on her gun.

And then I really started to cry.

Tears just kept pouring and pouring down, like I was a flash flood or something. I felt Jace behind me, wrapping me into a tight embrace.

"Oh god, Clary, I'm so sorry," he whispered in my ear, his hot breath billowing. And then Jace cried with me, rocking me back and forth.

It was a bittersweet moment for me; sad because my mother was gone, and sweet because Jace was there for me. It was the kind that left you with an ache at the bottom of your stomach.

And then I realized just how much I loved Jace. He was my absolute everything, and I revolved around him.

Do you know the kind of love I'm talking about? The kind you can't describe, that sinks in your body, until you can't help but burst, hoping somebody will understand?

I didn't want to be anybody else, in that moment. Because if I was anybody else, I wouldn't have Jace.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, Jace," I said, hoping he would somehow understand.

And I knew he did, something in us clicking, like two puzzle pieces finally being put together.

It was silent, but it was the best of kind of silence, the kind where you are comfortable enough with a person to not say anything and yet everything.

And we sat there together, the two only living things in this dead apartment.

**Yeah, I know short I'm SORRY!**

**Last bit of fluff for a while, time for some DRAMA!**

**OC was The Girl with a Gun!**

**Luv ya xoxo**

**lolbeawesome**

**250 reviews pretty please?**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N : Ok, before I start my actual Author's Note, I just want to take a second to remember all those that were lost today- 9/11. If you 've lost anybody, my heart goes completely out to you. **

**So let's all just take a moment of silence.**

'**kay moment over.**

**Homework… I dunno how much I'm going to update on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and possibly Fridays. Why? Because I have dance -_-**

**And thank you, lovely people for all your awesome videos.**

**I got a tumblr for those that are interested. I'll start posting fics on there later.**

** . **

**I kind of don't get tumblr, so if you have one and are epic with a comp, do give me some advice, I'd appreciate it!**

**Here's the chapter!**

**Ah, yes I don't anything but my writing.**

Jocelyn POV

I was tied to a chair, the rope irritating my skin. I looked at my kidnapper in horror, absolute horror.

When I had run away from him with Clary, I had changed our names, gotten new papers, everything. For years I had been hiding, keeping tabs on him.

And here he was, in flesh and blood. His smile was hauntingly familiar, stretched over his skin. But he wasn't the same person anymore. He had lost weight, his skin had become paler, and seemed stretched around his head.

This man, he couldn't be who I thought he was.

"You left me, Jocelyn," he told me, his voice cracking slightly, showing the tiniest bit of emotion. Then it was gone, showing nothing but an expressionless man.

"You abused me, and then you moved on to our child. Of course I left you. I had no reason to stay."

"I loved you," he replied, showing the skin of the man he used to be.

"I loved you too. But sometimes love isn't enough."

"You're right," he snarled, his temper rising quickly. "Love isn't ever enough. It's not worth it to love."

"You were always wrong in your perception of reality."

"I was the only one who could see life clearly."

"No, you're an evil, twisted man. And to this day, I rue the day I met you."

"Take it back," he begged me, his lips close to mine. "It'll be okay, Jocelyn."

I slapped him across the face, once, hard. He stood there, shocked, and for a minute I felt like he was the guy I fell in love with in high school. The guy who I married, and the loving father he had been.

Maybe it was a trick of the light. Or maybe he had me on drugs. Who knew?

And suddenly, I knew I had been wrong. He wasn't the same person he used to be.

He was a monster.

He came close to me, snarling. A silver knife glinted in his hand menacingly.

Clary, I love you, I thought. If I was going to die, I wanted my daughter to know how much I loved her. I had run away for a better life for her. That little petite girl carried with her all my hopes and dreams for a future.

He's coming for you, I thought. He's coming for you, Clary. Watch out.

And then there was nothing, nothing but darkness.

CPOV

Do you know what it's like to have somebody you love gone, and somebody tell you they were lost?

As if they were like toys in a toy box, lost because of some foolish child.

I felt like screaming at them all, telling them they didn't understand, wouldn't understand.

In other words, I wanted to let out my inner three year old.

Izzy and Jace had followed me around nonstop, and I hated it. I was sick and tired of the sympathetic face everybody gave me, the pitying looks, all of it.

The funny part was, the Lightwoods had always turned the opposite gender into their little pets. And now, here they were, following me around like two little poodles.

And so, during lunch, I escaped, to my secret place, the one nobody would ever find out about. It was a little corner of the school that had a glass window, thick with dust when I first found it. There were overgrown plants everywhere I looked, but gradually, I had cleaned up the place, and now it was mine.

I sat there for a while, the window open, breathing the cold, crisp, air, and just being alive.

Sometimes, I would just sit here, just breathing, thinking.

My mother was lost. I had been lost, once, too.

_Flashback_

_I was all alone, at about four o'clock, the sun still giving off warmth. The park was big, so big a little kid could easily get as lost as I had gotten._

_Being the eight-year old I was, still slightly scared of the world, I whimpered, scared Daddy would find me. _

_A boy came up to me, stunningly attractive, maybe nine or ten years old. _

"_Hi," he said brightly, smiling at me, and offering me his hand._

_I took it, clutching his warm hand. As he began to talk, I felt instantly soothed._

_He was my new playmate, somebody I could easily to talk to about anything, and everything. One day, I finally worked up the courage to show him my scars. He didn't gasp like most people when I showed them, only nodding slowly, and then showing me his own scars._

_They reminded me of the ones Daddy gave me. But Daddy was from the past, I told myself sternly, and in the past he would stay. _

_On his birthday, I made him a drawing, one of him and I, to the best of my eight-year old ability. _

_His smile told me everything I needed to know. _

_That boy, that playground had been my escape from the world, no matter how brief the visit away from reality was. _

_Until one day, my mother stopped me from going outside, telling me there were __**things **__out there after me. I believed her._

_Because even at the age of eight, I knew that life wasn't the fantasy from the princess fairytales Mommy read me, as much as I wanted it to be. _

_There were scary things out there. The world isn't just filled with unicorns pooping rainbows, you know. _

_End Flashback!  
_

I looked around my secret place, convinced that somebody had been here before.

There were small changes, a plant moved an inch or so, the painting slightly crooked.

When I moved the rocking chair slightly, a piece of paper fluttered down, and as I picked it up, I gasped.

"Oh. My. Freaking. God." I said quietly, mentally having a freak out.

The piece of paper had been drawn on, with childish eight- year old hands. A boy and a girl stood together, happy.

That wasn't just any drawing. That was the one I had given the boy for his birthday.

**Still slightly short, I know, I'm sorry! **

**But I think it has some drama in it :D yes no?**

**275 reviews kiddies?**

**And any help about tumblr would be greatly appreciated :D actually, if you do, I'll either let you either get a sneak peak, or I'll write a one-shot about whatever you choose. Leave your choice in the reply, and SORRY I can only do sneak peaks for those who have a FFN account.**

**- lolbeawesome**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry this took me a wicked long time. That's because between juggling homework, dance, and all that stuff, I've had practically no time.**

**Yeah, I didn't know I had a life either. **

**Um… this chapter is dedicated to Quinn, this was our song **** Quinn, I will never forget you, and I know you will always watch over me. You're my first love, and I think you taught me what love really is. I love you. **

**Anyways… I did make an offer to give a sneak peek or a oneshot to anybody who helped me on tumblr. **

**Yay ilookOnTheBrightSide! I made a oneshot/ songfic- it's called Hello World. I think it's better than Beautiful- if you could check that out, that would be epic :D Tumblr buddies forever, my friend :D**

**One more thing: I got bottom braces. They suck.**

**I don't own TMI or the characters. They belong to Cassie, duh :D**

**TGIF! WHO'S WITH MEH? XD**

JPOV

Have you heard the song, "Sexy and I know it?"

I belted out the song, enjoying every minute of it. Izzy was covering her ears, and I grinned at her discomfort.

"I'm sexy and I know it, know it, I'm Sexy and I know it!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, tearing off my shirt, and then grinning wickedly as Izzy covered her eyes.

"I'm scarred for life," she groaned.

"Why, you don't think I look hot without a shirt on?" I asked innocently.

" Believe it not, but not all females find you attractive. Especially since I am your SISTER! Now put the freaking shirt back on!"

"You know this is a messed-up world when not every person wants to worship me," I said, sighing.

"That's right, you're a god, I forgot," said a voice teasingly.

Clary was standing there in all of her red-haired glory, laughing as she saw Izzy's facial expression at the conversation we had just had.

"Should I bow down? After all, sometimes I forget I'm unworthy of you in all your godliness," Clary said, face straight.

"Yeah, maybe you should."

"Forget it," Clary replied, ever the feminist.

"You said you would!"

"I was joking!"

"Fine, be that way, Clary," I told her, sticking my tongue out.

Izzy just stood there, cracking up.

"She's got you s_o_ whipped Jace. Miracle how she managed to do in about three months what I've been trying to do since forever!"

"I am not whipped!" I protested.

"C'mon Jace, get your head out of your ass. Of course you are. When else would the great Jace Lightwood stick out his tongue?"

"When the great Jace Lightwood thinks he's a third grader," Clary told her.

Izzy laughed, and they slapped hands.

Great. My girlfriend was teaming up with my sister to insult me. What had the world come to?

I meant, we all knew my hotness caused Global Warming. Obviously, there was no world peace because all the dictators wanted to marry me. Sad to know what happens to the world when a guy like me shows up.

I wondered how hot Jesus was.

My phone rang then, and my ringtone, What makes you beautiful started blasting from it.

I swear to god, half the girls in our school started singing to that. Harry Styles was only a little bit below me, because his hair was weird.

Clary, on the other hand, started laughing.

"You like One Direction?" she asked me.

"No," I told her, than turned to Izzy. "What the hell?"

"Oh, well I thought you loved One Direction. After all, you were singing it in the shower yesterday."

"And how could you hear? Were you secretly wanting to be in that shower with me?"

"Disturbing mental image I could have lived without. And no, we could hear you from the kitchen, just ask Mom or Alec," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever, they're catchy," I replied, rolling my eyes, and checking my phone.

Which is when my day started to go downhill. It seemed as if my father had texted me, just to spite the good day I had been having me.

_Meet me at Taki's, say seven. I expect you to be there, and if you're not, then something equally as unfortunate as Clary's mother disappearing might happen to Clary._

My blood boiled, and I gritted my teeth.

I had to see my father again. There was no way I was letting him hurt Clary.

CPOV

I watched Jace leave, his expression so depressed, I wondered if his dentist had finally gotten the courage to tell him his canine was chipped. If so, I feared for his dentist's life. Even if his dentist was a hot girl.

Izzy was just cracking, up, completely oblivious to the world. It was funny; she didn't notice people at all sometimes, but if you told her about a sale, you had her complete and undivided attention.

That was part of the reason she was my best friend.

"So, heard about the sale at Gilly Hicks?" I told her, trying to get her to snap out of it.

"What sale?!" she asked me, almost immediately.

I just rolled my eyes in response.

"Clary, you know me too well."

"That's true; I know more about you than any normal person would want to know."

"Define normal," she told me.

"Not you!"

"Haha, so funny, Clary. Anyways, I gotta go, I have to meet Simon. Text you later, 'kay?"

"'Kay, bye Izzy," I said, opening my math book.

I had a quiz the next day about something I hadn't really paid attention to. I mean, who cared about algebra when they had more important things to worry about? Besides, algebra wasn't actually that interesting. I swear, the teacher was about as old as the dinosaurs!

After about a minute of mindless reading, I closed my book. Too many thoughts raced through my head to even being thinking. One thought replaced another one, until I couldn't distinguish them any more.

That boy, the one I had drawn a picture for, he was my first love. He was the first one who had truly understood my pain.

And now, here he was, somewhere in this school. What did this mean? Would I still love him, now that I had Jace?

I didn't know.

Jocelyn POV

"What now?" I snarled at Valentine, already tired of his very creative torture methods.

I wondered sometimes what would have happened if he hadn't been this dark, twisted genius, but a good person instead. He could have made revelations, and I would have been that happy woman who married her high school sweetheart.

"I think you'll like this, Jocelyn," he told me, in a superior tone.

Something I had always hated about Valentine was the fact that he thought he owned me, as if I was just an object.

I wasn't. I had a major in Fine Arts, and I was more human than he'd ever been.

I had been foolish, and too innocent in high school for my own good. Maybe now, I would have been living my happily ever after now, if I had really seen Valentine.

A boy walked in, older than Clary, but I recognized him.

A mother will always recognize her son.

"Jonathan," I whispered.

**There you go :D I will try my hardest to update soon.**

**Don't worry, there'll be more promos to get a oneshot, or a sneak peek. This was for ppl who were epic at Tumblr, but I'll think of something awesome :D**

**LLAMAS!**

**R&R pretty plz :D**

**290?**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Okay, XD well that last chapter was interesting, right? I try, I try :D**

**-sigh- I have like three hours of dance on Fridays, and Saturdays, so I get done late, as well as being REALLY sore and tired :/**

**Yeah, well, enough of about me.**

**Here's the chappie :D**

**Duh… I don't own TMI… because then my writing would be awesomer :D**

**I OWN MY OWN WRITING YAY!  
**

Jocelyn POV

"Jonathan," I whispered.

A look of confusion crossed his face, and I felt a wave of anger pass through my body.

'They told me he was dead!" I said, looking at Valentine accusingly.

My own son didn't know who I was.

"He did," Valentine told me snidely. "I wouldn't have lied- I'd rather have a son than Clary."

"If he did, then how the hell is he alive? And half of Clary is yourself, you know. You never even cared about her, abusing her like you did."

"Genetic experiments, Jocelyn. Stephen Herondale, the geneticist, helped me create Jonathan."

"Why?" I asked, repulsed at the idea of bringing something alive again.

Let Jonathan rest in peace, I thought. Just let him rest in peace.

As much as I wanted to know my son, it just seemed wrong, not just letting him be. And if I had learned anything from Valentine abusing Clary, it was that I wouldn't let his wrath hurt my children again.

"Do you not realize what we've come up with? This could change history!"

"People would because insignificant, and death would mean nothing. Don't you see that we have to die?"

"Even those four year olds that died of cancer?"

I felt sickened, thinking about this. If the dead had any rights, it was to rest in peace.

"Where's Stephen Herondale?" I asked unexpectedly.

"He died a while back," Valentine said, shrugging.

Obviously, death did not matter to him anymore. It just went to show what a monster my husband was.

"Didn't you want to resurrect him?"

"The last of the genetic formula was used on his boy. His son is now invincible."

"Where is he now?"

"I took him for a while, then he just ran off."

"Do you know his whereabouts?"

"Some say he's in New York now."

"What's his name?"

"Jace."

JPOV

I waited at Taki's impatiently, wanting more than anything to get this over with.

The man I called my father wasn't really my father; just my dad's business partner who had taken me in after my dad died. He had abused me, saying something about me being no better than his daughter.

The only hope I had had at that time was the girl, the one who had giving me a drawing.

I fished my pockets for it, but it wasn't there. The smell of sweet, delicate perfume, intoxicating almost, drifted from my pocket.

The scent was so familiar, so reassuring, I was certain it was the girl's.

Which meant she was somewhere around here, in New York. I felt rising hope, that maybe this girl could make my life all better again.

But no, there was Clary. I loved her, I truly did. But did I love the girl more?

Was I willing to remember the past that haunted me? I didn't know.

But as I was thinking all these thoughts, (isn't life so freaking complicated sometimes?), my father walked in.

It was funny, the fact I didn't know his name.

"Jace," he greeted me coolly. There was a certain distance between us.

"Hello," I said stiffly.

"Shall we sit?" he asked, gesturing to a booth, the one me and Clary always sat at.

"No," I said quickly, "Not that one."

"Fine," he said, viewing me suspiciously.

I just couldn't sit there with this man, in the booth I had so many happy times with Clary.

We sat there for a while, making idle talk.

"Jace," he asked me then, curiously, "Have you been in any fights."

"Yeah," I replied, somewhat dazed.

"Did you win?"

"Um, yes."

His facial expression then made me feel like I was an experiment of some sorts, and I squirmed a little.

That's right, I, Jace Lightwood, squirmed a little bit. That's how scary he was.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.

"Sure, shoot."

"What's your name?"

"Valentine Morgensten," he said, grinning darkly.

CPOV

My room was filled with memories, from the time I was five to now. There were pictures of me and Simon as ten year olds, grinning ear to ear. That was before he met Izzy, and everything changed.

There were pictures of my mother and I, and as I glanced at them, my heart skipped a beat. It was so hard, not knowing where my mother was, if she was dead or alive.

I wanted to save my mother, the same way she had saved me.

I glanced at the picture I had drawn with childish eight-year old hands, and then to my sketchbook.

Every year, on March 15th, I drew a new and improved picture.

March 15th was the day my mom warned me about the scary world, and I didn't ever want to leave her arms again.

That was also the last day I saw the boy.

But, as of right now, I was clinging on to the hope that maybe, possibly I would see him again. And if there was one person who knew everybody in New York, it was Sebastian.

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed him. His family was a rich and influential one in the New York- hell, the whole world. I would need the connections if I wanted to find the boy.

Not to mention, Sebastian had spent his fair share in the back alleys of New York. So it was highly likely that he had stumbled across the boy at least once.

I finally did it. I called the number I had had memorized for three years. The call was answered on the first ring.

"Clary?"

"Sebastian, I need your help."

IPOV 

I looked at the doctor in shock, Simon beside me.

Not me, not me, not me. It couldn't be me. I couldn't die this early, I had my whole life ahead of me.

I had Simon.

It was funny how one thing could change your life.

The words, "You have stage three cancer," had changed my whole life.

I was thinking not me, not me, not me, but why not me?

After all, the world would go on without me, as much as I wanted to stop, freeze, and rewind.

I looked at Simon, his face glistening with tears, fogging up his glasses.

"I love you," he told me, voice scratchy.

"I love you too," I replied, wanting him to know that more than ever now.

Why not me? I was just one in three thousand, four hundred people diagnosed with it, after all.

And one in four people die from it. That one person out the four people?

It could be me.

**So, what'd you think? Like it, love it, hate it?**

**Lotsa drama :D**

**I'm aiming for 300 :D wat u think? Gonna make my dreams come true? **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: OMG! GUYS 300 REVIEWS! **

**YOU GUYS ARE EPIC, AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL xD**

**Um, if you guys were wondering, I still love you 3.**

**No, seriously, I'm crying right now. Don't know if you guys know this, but my e-mail has been practically spammed since day 1. God, I've never been so happy to have my e-mail spammed. **

**Ok, here's some random stats:**

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**yupp.. random stats are always fun… 20 pages of reviews… I keep them close to my heart… well in my phone :D**

**About Izzy really quickly: Yeah, cancer is something really personal to me, and I'm sure for a lot of you too. If you want me to put something in here; a dedication for a loved one or something, I' d be more than happy to oblige. Because I'm sure they're always watching us.**

**I DON'T OWN TMI- obviously :D**

CPOV

"Sebastian," I said, hardly breathing.

"Clary," he replied, eyes dark with some emotion I couldn't place.

Anger? Love? Guilt? I couldn't tell, and I wondered if I really wanted to know.

"I need your help," I told him, wondering why he had decided to help me.

"Of course you do," he said, laughing bitterly. "And here I was, thinking maybe you had forgotten about Jace, ready to forgive me."

"How could I? You basically cheated on me for the three years we were together. Our whole relationship was basically one big lie! And you want me to forgive you?"

"Clary, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I can't tell you how much. As soon as you left me, I realized what a jackass I had been. I loved you, Clary, hell, I still love you!"

"But the difference here is that I don't love you."

"Don't say that," he begged me, and I was surprised to see the same Sebastian Verlac I had known reduced to this.

"Why?" I asked, slightly bitter.

"Because," he breathed, coming closer, and closer towards me. I shrank back, afraid of what he was going to do, holding my breath.

"No, Sebastian," I said firmly, tears in my eyes.

"Why, Clary, why? I'm so sorry."

And with that Sebastian leaned forward, briefly touching his lips to mine. It wasn't like anything we'd had before; before he had been so possessive. Now, it was gentler, and I pushed him away, shocked.

"What the hell?!"

"I'm sorry, Clary. Just forgive me, and make it okay again."

"No," I whispered, then said it again, firmer.

Sebastian then brought up a small, silver gun, and I stood there, terrified as he pointed at me. Then, he changed the target, instead pointing the gun to his head.

"Say you forgive me, Clary," he croaked, then shot a single bullet in his head.

I watched, horrified, as blood gushed out of his head, and then guilt settled over me. I shook Sebastian, once, twice, and his eyes looked at me once.

"Say you forgive me, Clary."

"I forgive you," I said, nearly sobbing.

"Good, I love you," he told me, and then the light from his eyes faded.

"Goodbye Sebastian," I whispered, briefly touching my lips to his forehead. "Rest in peace, I forgive you."

I closed his eyes, wanting desperately to take back the last five minutes of my life. I heard the rustle of paper from his jacket, and I found a piece of paper, folded up into a million tiny pieces.

In Sebastian's achingly familiar scrawl, I read :

"_Dear Clary,_

_The last three years have been the best three years of my entire life. I guess I didn't show you enough that I loved you. _

_Living without you is like living without emotions. I'm absolutely nothing without you Clary, and as hard as I've tried to get you to love me, I know it's not going to happen. _

_I'm so sorry, Clary. My last wish is that you'll forgive me, and not remember me in vain. Because I really did love you, Clary._

_It would kill me not to see you happy, because I'm not really the jackass most people think I am. So, I wish you the best with Jace. Don't get me wrong- I'll still hate his guts from my grave. But still, if he keeps you happy, I guess I'll die happy._

_Don't get me wrong- I made a lot of mistakes in our relationship. If I hadn't been idiotic enough to cheat on you, you would still be mine._

_But my greatest regret was the fact that I told your father where you were. I didn't realize what he'd do. I don't think I could live with it, the guilt that I had set a killer on your track. I swear, I didn't realize it. I just thought your father was lost, as you wanted to see him again._

_I'm sorry, Clarissa Fray. We could have had a future together, and I threw it away._

_Love always,_

_Sebastian"_

I looked at the note in horror. My mother was missing because of Sebastian.

And I had forgiven him.

It was bad luck to speak ill of the dead, and so I wouldn't.

So I sat there, note in hand, looking down at the bloody body of my ex-boyfriend.

IPOV

"Jace! Jace! Jace!" I called out.

Jesus, how many times did I have to call out Jace's name for him to hear me.

"Huh?" he asked, completely oblivious. That's my brother for you. Not always the hot, sexy, perfect god you think he is.

"Jace, you idiot," I exclaimed.

"'What did I do this time?"

"Nothing," I said, my voice softer. "Sit down, would you?"

"Okay," he said, sitting down.

"Jace… I have cancer," I told him, breaking down.

"What?" he asked me, as if the concept was too big to grasp. Which it was.

"I have cancer," I repeated, barely holding on to my sanity. After all this was over, I was going to go on a shopping spree.

"Dammit, Izzy," he said, wrapping his arms around me.

So Jace did care, after all. It was nice to know he wasn't always the jerk he pretended to be.

And I stayed there, wrapped up in my little brothers strong arms, forever.

I was safe from the big, scary, world, at least for a minute.

I didn't realize how scary it actually was.

**Yay! Chapter 20. Kinda sad, well Seb died, you guys happy?**

**I love reviews, and I think it would be awesome if I got to 325 reviews. Please? I think you guys can do it!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I wasn't actually going to update today… you have my neighbor to thank for this. So if you actually read this, thank Megan. She sent me a video with the word update in there about twenty million times.**

**Ok, so most of you must be familiar with ddpjclaf's Covert Cassanova. I FREAKING LOVE ddpjclaf. I was like, how come I don't have as much talent as she does.**

**And then, I remembered the fact that I am twelve years old, and she is married with three kids. -_- o.o reality check :P**

**But by the time I'm her age, I swear I'm going to have a published book. 'Cause she's my idol :D :D**

**Some of you hated the fact Seb died, some of you loved it, (cough cough CannibleDuckWithAnAxe). **

**Some of you thought he took the bad way out, which is probably true. He's a self-loving, pompous idiot. What did you expect? :P Anyways, at least he's outta the story, right?**

**Here's the update. May not be another one for a while, just warning you. **

CPOV

I was dressed completely in black. Black was such a depressing color, although I had to say it fit the occasion. Today was Sebastian's funeral, and I found ironic that it was on a cold, rainy day.

Let the world mourn, I thought. Even thought Sebastian hadn't always been the best, he was still human. In the end, he had had the right intentions. And that was how I'd remember him. Not as the pompous, self-loving jerk, but as the person I'd loved for three years.

The person I'd seen reduced to practically nothing wasn't the Sebastian I wanted to remember. No, I kept in my memory the guy who had been my stronghold for years. That was the Sebastian people deserved to remember.

In one hand, I held the note he had given me, streaked with tears. In the other, I had a bunch of sketches and pictures of Seb and me. When he was buried, I wanted him to have some of us with him. The note, I'd keep for the rest of my life.

Don't ever make a silly mistake like I did. Sometimes, it could cost somebody their life.

"You ready?" a voice asked me. "Jesus, you girls and your extensive time getting ready."

"You take longer than I do, Jace," I said dryly, giving him a onceover.

He was wearing a black suit, black tie, and black shoes, hair combed neatly. Jace looked at me once, then wrapped me in his arms, like I was a Christmas present. And finally, finally, I cried, letting all the guilt out.

"Hey, Clary, baby, it's going to be okay," he said, making small circles on my back.

"No, it's not Jace," I blubbered, "It's all my freaking fault. If I hadn't been so stupid…"

"Not it's not, Clary," he told me firmly. "He made his choice, and you know what? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, then throw it in the face of the person who gave you lemons, until they give you the oranges you originally asked for."

The whole statement was so Jace-like, I had to smile.

"Why am I in love with you again?"

"So many reasons, baby, so many. I personally think it's because of these handsome good looks, but you never know. It might just be the fact my name is Jace Lightwood."

"Wait… so I can throw lemonade at whoever made my life miserable, Jace?"

"Of course you can, Clary. I'll even do it with you!"

"Great, I'll just get some lemonade, then I'll start throwing it at you," I said, totally cracking up at his face.

"Um, no, Clary. Do you know what all that sugar and lemon will do to my face?! It takes a lot to keep this all hot and sexy."

"Whatever, Jace," I said, rolling my eyes, then feeling guilty about being happy.

I was here, laughing with my boyfriend, while Sebastian was in a casket. I was going to wake up tomorrow, and go to school, and Sebastian was going to be dead for the rest of forever.

"Shh, Clary, it's okay," Jace told me, kissing the tears off my face.

I just sat there, and cried and cried, until there were no more tears to be shed.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked me, quietly.

"Yeah," I nodded, ready to face whatever was ahead of.

IPOV

I sat in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs, waiting for my turn. My doctor had said it was best to go with chemotherapy, and I had heard it hurt like hell.

Simon sat next to me, his hand holding my shaking one tightly.

"It's okay, Izzy," he whispered.

"No, it's not, Simon! I have fucking stage three cancer, and there's the possibility I'm going to die. Not to mention that chemotherapy will guarantee my hair will fall out."

"I think you look beautiful anyway," he told me, grinning crookedly, and leaning in for a kiss.

I obliged, sighing, wondering if this might be the last time I would kiss me. Stop thinking negatively, Izzy, I told myself. Stay positive, there's still hope.

Not really. The doctors told me there was about a three percent chance I'd survive, and at this point they weren't sure if I should take chemotherapy or not. I'd argued, using my seductiveness at one point, to make sure they'd agree with me. Because small hope is better than no hope at all.

I hated Sebastian for what he'd done. He took his life- at least he had a healthy one! Believe me, if that had been my life, I wouldn't have wasted it. I was going to die, and he just decided to take his life away, like it wasn't worth anything.

Life is precious. You're only there for a limited time, so make the most of it. Because sooner or later, that will be you in the grave, with your family and friends crying.

"Isabelle Lightwood?" a nurse called, gasping when she saw me.

I didn't exactly look like a cancer patient- not yet, anyway. Yeah, I was thinner, but I wasn't really pale, and my hair was still intact- for now!

"Yeah," I said, walking forward, dragging Simon with me.

She lead me to a room, where I was restrained, and put an I.V. into me.

"This may hurt a little bit," she told me, smiling briefly.

I wanted to smack that smile off her face. Cancer was nothing to smile about, and neither was chemotherapy. Anyways, I was sure that was her you'll-be-gone-soon-enough smile, and I didn't want her pity. Besides, I had seen her checking out Simon.

When the chemicals started, I screamed, tears rolling down onto my face, and Simon clutched my hand harder.

Forget hurting like hell, this was like walking to a farm, getting hit by a tractor, then by a car, then losing all of my clothes, and then earning a one-way trip to hell.

Yeah, it hurt, if you were wondering.

No wonder I was restrained, because otherwise, I would have run out by now.

I saw Simon crying with me, and that gave me a reason to stay alive. Love. Because whatever I felt, Simon felt too.

Simon was my other half, the yin to my yang, my soul mate, call it what you like. The only thing I knew was that Simon and I were meant to be, and I wasn't letting cancer get in the way. Or even death, for that matter. I would pull a Houdini if I had to, but no way was I leaving Simon.

He pulled me in for a kiss, and suddenly, the pain- all of it, went away. All there was was Simon, and only Simon.

The nurse cleared her throat, and we pulled away.

"Your time is up, Isabelle," she told me, eyeing Simon again.

She pulled the IV out, and I winced a little bit. This pain was tolerable, unlike the other one.

And then I was tired, so, so tired.

"Fatigue is to be expected," the nurse told Simon, and he nodded, picking me up, bridal style.

And I fell into a deep sleep, unaware of the rest of the world, at least for a little bit.

Although, if my hair fell out, I was going to have a sissy fit.

Jocelyn POV

"Jocelyn?" a voice called out.

"What is it?" I asked, gentler than the voice I would use with Valentine.

A blond figure emerged, tentatively, as if he was scared of being caught.

"Jonathan," I said, smiling a bit.

"Hi, mom," he replied, and I internally smiled, knowing that my son thought of me that way.

It was good to know that Valentine hadn't completely changed my son into a monster. He had that effect on people.

"I don't want to be alive," he whispered to me, and I found my heart breaking.

"Don't say that, baby." My own son didn't have the desire to live.

"No mom, I'm serious. I'm nothing but a genetic experiment, and I'm so tired of it!"

I knew what he was talking about. Valentine had experimented with me, and Clary at some points. I had escaped, far, far away, and he had no way of doing that. He wasn't stuck here, and I wanted to tell him stories of the real world. The real world wasn't like this.

I gasped suddenly, filled with idea.

"Jonathan, you see that purse over there? Run, away as fast as you can, to the Lightwood mansion. You know where that is right? Go, far, far away, and find Clary. She'll show you the real world. Tell her I sent you."

"Mom," he protested.

"No buts, young man. Go, quickly, before he comes."

He nodded at me once, hugged me, and I kissed his forehead. I watched his shadow leave, my heart aching when I couldn't see him anymore.

I had set my little boy free, into a big scary world, one that just possibly might be scarier than this tortured reality.

If you love something, let it go. If it loves you, it will come back to you.

**There you go :D :D I'm proud of me. Are you proud? :O :O**

**Please please please please 230 reviews. I will freaking worship you if you do.**

**Thanks for reading, I love you :D**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Ughh sorry for the super long time for the update (by my standards! xD)**

**Life gets super busy…. O.o I know every single one of you knows what I'm talking about, so I'm not getting into it. **

**Anyways, it's Friday! Woohoo, who's siked? I AM!**

**And OMG, I asked for like 15 reviews, and I got like 20 reviews **** btw, when I say 330 reviews or something, it means the total reviews. That would be freaking impossible to get like 330 reviews in one chapter. Although awesome… lol :P**

**Uhhh…. so some of you caught on to some schemes going on here. I like to leave breadcrumb trails, so if you catch on to something, it's for a reason. You guys are so smart, you basically catch on to everything. A mistake or a flaw in the plot that doesn't make sense? It probably is a clue :P**

**Anyways, here's the chapter!**

Jonathan POV

The world was so foreign, so different from clean, almost robotic setting of the laboratory where I had spent most of my time. This city was bright, dirty, and I felt like it was alive- almost as if it had a heartbeat. If I listened, I could hear the very pulse of the city; the screech of the taxi cabs, the eager talking of tourists and locals alike, and the loud blasting of music I didn't know the words to.

Yeah, this was New York.

And suddenly, I realized just how sheltered I had been. This was the real world, filled with fun, highs, lows, and worries alike. This was reality, and I was never happier to be alive, and just be a part of all of this.

"You just gonna stand there looking like an idiot?" a voice quipped, and I turned around, trying to match a voice to that face.

When I did, I gasped in shock. The girl was the most beautiful I had ever laid eyes on, with flowing dark hair, dark eyes, and clothes that somehow looked decent on her. On anybody else, they would have looked simply indecent.

"My name is Izzy," she said to me, shaking her hair out of her eyes, and extending a perfect hand.

"Jonathan," I told her, somehow regaining my voice and not sounding like a total idiot. "Do you happen to know where Lightwood Mansion is?"

"Yeah, I better," she replied, smirking. "I live there; I'm a Lightwood," she explained.

"Would you mind?" I asked her.

"Nah, I'm going there anyways," she said, ushering me forwards, then turning back. "Crap, I forgot to ask. Why are you going there anyways? You're not a stalker are you? Because I hate stalkers. Oh, and if you're in love with Jace, he's taken."

"What's a stalker?" I whispered.

"You don't know what a stalker is, Jonathan? How are you going to survive in New York?" she teased me, and I felt my cheeks heat up in a blush.

"I don't know," I mumbled.

"Do you know what you do with a random stranger who just happens to know nothing about the world?"

"What?"

"You take them home," she smiled, then walked the fastest I had ever seen any human walk. Especially one in high heels.

I followed her then, trotting obediently, just as I had been taught. In this world, you could fall in love, and not worry about the consequences.

I was alive, and happy, as well. Maybe I wasn't the person I had been in the lab; it was as if I had left him behind, a silhouette of who I used to be. This was who I was now, and who I wanted to be.

And then I realized something; I was completely and utterly in love with Isabelle Lightwood.

CPOV

God, the atmosphere in the funeral was so depressing. I didn't get why all these people were at his funeral, the same ones who had laughed at his face not three weeks ago.

And now, why were they crying? They didn't really know who died, the real Sebastian who had allowed me into his little world. The Sebastian whose father was cold and distant, whom Sebastian wanted to please with all his heart.

His father was there, standing to a side, face completely expressionless. I felt a wave of anger, and then regret. His own father didn't care that his son was dead, gone from the world.

In other words, the funeral was full of imposters of people who pretended to have hearts, and I wept. I wept for Sebastian, alone in that grave, with barely anybody caring that he was there.

I was sick of it all; the past that I couldn't erase, a jumble of rash steps I couldn't retrace, and a mountain of things I still regretted.

"It's not your fault," Jace whispered to me, as if he knew what I was thinking.

"Yes, it is Jace. If it hadn't been for me, Sebastian wouldn't have been in that grave, dead. And nobody cares! Nobody will remember him," I said, eyes watery, once again.

"I'll remember him, Clary. And you'll remember him. Even if nobody else does, we won't forget."

"Promise?"

"I swear on my life."

"Thank you, Jace," I murmured, barely able to talk.

"Anything for you, Clary. You're my princess, and I'll never leave you, I promise."

And in that brief moment, I realized that love could conquer anything; grief, regrets, flaws, anything.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you too, Clary. I love you more than you will ever know or comprehend."

And we sat there, in silence, watching as the casket was lowered down, and then we threw our flowers on top. Mine was a deep red rose, the type you give to somebody on Valentine's Day.

I kissed the rose once before throwing it, wishing, somehow, Sebastian would know how much I loved him.

"Goodbye, Sebastian," I said, with finality. "I promise, I won't ever forget you."

Goodbyes are always hard, whether it's when you're saying goodbye to a friend for a short time, or if it's the last time you will ever see them.

Sometimes, you have to let people go. It's not that you don' t love them; it's just that you love them enough to let them soar, to set them free. And that was what I was doing with Sebastian. I was setting him free from this Earth, to let his spirit soar. That was what I would take comfort in.

But still, it was hard. I would cry for many nights after; I was sure of it. He would always haunt me, somehow, and I knew he would look after me.

Incredible grief took over me, consuming me as a whole. The fire I had begun with Sebastian was now burning me alive.

"Jace," I said, my body tucked safely under his arm.

"Yes, Clary?" he asked.

"Will you hold me until the end?"

"I'll wake you when it's over," he promised.

As if I was some delicate creature that needed to be shielded, the cruel, twisted world hidden from me. No, I just needed somebody to hold me, to show me that life would go on as I experienced reality. I was stronger than I seemed, and most people- especially Jace- were always under the impression that I needed to be protected at every single point in the day. I didn't; I had experienced life just like the rest of them, maybe even more.

"If you're my dream, I never want to wake up from this, not matter hard it gets," I said softly.

"You don't mean that," Jace said, laughing bitterly. "The world is harsh; and believe me, sometimes you will want to wake up."

"Love conquers all," I replied, but this time, there was a trace of doubt in my head.

Did love really conquer all?

SPOV

I blinked once, my eyes slowly adjusting to the gloomy light. Taking a thin, gleaming knife from my lapel pocket, I cut a hole, in which I stepped out of. Tunnels that had been planned and carefully built for when the need should arise ran back and forth.

Thank goodness for air holes in the casket, I thought. Even with the air holes, it had been terribly hot and stuff in there. I shuddered to think what my hair looked like right now.

The whole deception had been planned carefully, not leaving out a single detail, for months. Practically since Clary had broken up with me, actually. And here I was now, candle in hand, walking down dark tunnels.

At one point, I saw a skeleton, and I shuddered. Had somebody else tried the same trick and gotten lost?

And then, there was the funeral to deal with. I could imagine the atmosphere; my father in a corner, on his iPhone, only there because his presence was required. If it wasn't, he wouldn't have bothered to show up. After all, I was only the disappointment of the family, nothing compared to my stellar brother.

But I could imagine Clary, crying in a corner, forever regretting what she thought she had done. Don't worry, Clary, I wanted to tell her. I'm here, you did nothing wrong, you never did.

But I couldn't. Right now, I was nothing but a shadow slipping down the corner.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I saw the light- and I really, really hoped it wasn't the metaphorical light everybody claimed to see when they were about to die. Because even though I was supposedly dead, I wanted to stay as far away from that as possible.

I turned the corner, and I saw the backside of a closet, or something hard and wooden. I pressed the back of it, and it revolved. Stepping inside, I felt the soft, plush of carpet beneath my feet. I had done it, I thought triumphantly.

I was met by a man, with white-blondish hair, who nodded curtly at me once.

"Hello, Sebastian," he said, his voice void of emotion, though I thought I detected a hint of warmth, a bit of happiness to see me. Or maybe it was just the effect the time in the cold earth had on me.

This man was like my father; as soon as I met him I knew something clicked. We were the same in many ways, both misunderstood geniuses. And pretty soon, we would rule the world, with all those that had pushed us down suffering.

Served them right.

And Clary? Clary would become mine, and Jace would be somewhere far, far, away, where nobody could ever see him. Least of all daylight.

"Hello Valentine," I said briskly, "We've got work to do."

**There it is, folks! I think this chapter turned out good, what did you think? And yes, a lot of you reviewed saying that if Seb had really been shot, then he wouldn't have been able to talk. Make sense now? Can I please please please somehow get 360 reviews? :O**

**I love you all! Thanks for reading :D I'll try to update soon; sorry for the wait!**

**~ lolbeawesome :D**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Guess what, guys? I've officially been on this site for a month :O YAY!**

**So now I have my beta profile up, if anybody is interested. Trust me, I edit better than I write. O_O I honestly hate my own writing- so I can't stand to either read or edit it, so no judging based on my own writing please :D**

**Hows life? O_O Sebastian is a very complex character, isn't he? I enjoy writing for him :D he makes my life happy. I'd fall in love with him if it wasn't for the fact he was fictional… and the fact that I'm in love with Jace… sorry Clary :D**

**I of course don't own TMI in any way shape or form, that belongs to the epic Ms. Clare. I own my own writing, belonging to me, and no plagerizing please, if you want to actually copy something, you must have an expressed agreement in writing. **

IPOV

I dropped my bag on a chair, and put myself exactly where I wanted to be: Simon's arms. He held me tight, and then cleared his throat, head nodding towards the area where Jonathan was standing awkwardly by the door.

"Who's he?" Simon asked, sizing him up, and slightly puffing out his chest.

I rolled my eyes at that; men were so funny. I didn't even pretend to understand them. Sometimes they were sensitive and unicorns and rainbows. Other times they were sizing other men up. As if Simon had any competition.

"That's Jonathan," I said, motioning for him- Jonathan, that is, to come closer. "He was looking for Clary," I explained, and Simon visibly relaxed a bit.

"Oh okay," he said, then turned towards Jonathan. "You can sit down, if you like," he told him, nodding towards a chair.

"Thanks," Jonathan replied, sitting down carefully, as if there was a time bomb, ticking away inside the chair.

"Hey, do you like video games?" Simon asked, eyes lighting up at the mention of them.

"What's a video game?"

"Oh man, where have you been? Dude, it's the greatest thing since bologna."

"Um, I really hate bologna."

"It's an expression, Jonathan," Simon laughed, tossing him a controller, and he looked at it, confused.

"What is this? A gun?"

"No, it's a controller," he explained, and began his spiel on how awesome video games were.

"Nerd," I laughed, kissing his face, and he nuzzled me a bit, then turned back towards the TV.

"Well, I'm going upstairs," I told Simon, and he nodded once, already completely engrossed in the game.

I walked up the stairs, slowly. It had gotten harder for me, since the cancer had spread to my hips. The chemotherapy didn't really hurt; after the first time, it had just become flat-out boring. The worst part was the aftertaste- the whole aftermath of chemotherapy was worse than a hangover. And I had had a _lot_ of those.

The end of my journey was pretty close; I knew it as much as I denied it, my doctors knew, Jace knew. The only one who didn't really notice was Simon. He was clearly oblivious to reality, wanting so bad to believe I would live.

I wanted to believe, too. As much of an optimist I had been about this, it wasn't really pessimism to know I wouldn't get through this.

The cancer was spreading, faster, faster, and I knew the chemotherapy wasn't helping as much as it should be.

Taking out a hairbrush, I started combing through my long hair. Somehow, the mindless brushing of hair had always calmed me down. I could just let my mind wander, while actually doing something useful.

Something long and dark fell, and as I picked up, I screamed. It was my own hair, and I realized that more had fallen. I was going to be a bald hag, and I didn't appreciate it at all.

My. Hair. Was. Falling. Off!

How was I going to look pretty? How was I going to impress Simon? More importantly, did I have the courage to go bald in front of the whole world?

Did I have the courage to face the disease? To face my reality?

JPOV

I sat in a booth at Taki's, Clary curled up in my lap. We were both dressed in our funeral clothing, but I knew that if one thing could cheer us up, it would be Taki's pancakes.

Clary wasn't crying any more; I had seen her say her final goodbyes. There would be grief, but nothing like before. This would be more of something that would haunt her, forever. One who has lost always knows another who has lost. I didn't know if it was the look in their eyes, or the way they carried themselves- but either way, somehow they knew.

"Hey, Clary," I whispered, and she looked up at me, nestled in my arm.

"Hi, Jace," she replied, a bit louder than I had been. "Got any pancakes? God, I'm starving," she exclaimed, and I smiled at my Clary putting on a brave front.

I wouldn't ever tell her this, but I could see through her facades. Always. It was so damn cute when she pretended she was okay, when in reality she wasn't.

"They're on the way," I replied instead. "Chocolate chip, right?"

She nodded, smiling a bit as she realized just how well I knew her. "Fine, but I'm paying this time. I hate how you always pay!"

"That's because you are just _way _too easy to persuade," I said, grinning wickedly.

"How so?"

"Well, I could just do this," I whispered, touching my lips to her ear, and she shuddered. "Or this," I said, kissing her on the lips this time. "Even better, this," I laughed, reaching over and tickling her.

"Hey! No fair, you know I'm ticklish," she told me, pouting a little bit.

"Oh, really? I didn't know," I replied innocently, then tickling her some more. "Tickle monster is coming for you, Clary!"

"What am I, three?" she asked, rolling her eyes, then laughing hysterically as I tickled her armpits. "Jace, stop!"

"Not until you agree to let me pay," I replied, lips grazing her neck.

"Fine," she said, crossing her arms. "But I seriously need to pay sometime. It's not fair; you always pay."

"Oh Clary, sweet, innocent, foolish Clary. You ever think you're going to win this battle? What Jace Lightwood wants, Jace Lightwood gets."

"Not always Jace," she told me, her body so very close to mine. I reached for her, anticipating what was going to come. After all, Clary was mine, and I wanted to show her that- as well as that guy who was staring at her.

As soon as my lips touched hers, however, she pulled away from me.

"What?!" I protested.

"Can't always get what you want, huh, Jace Lightwood," she teased me.

"Nonsense. Jace Lightwood always gets what he wants," I replied, pulling her roughly towards me, and she responded. Immediately, butterflies started to fill up my stomach. I couldn't understand why I felt this way, but I didn't mind it. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it, instead of it being just mindless kissing.

A throat was cleared, and I turned around to see Aline, dressed up in a waitress costume, much to my amusement, and I felt Clary stiffen up beside me.

"Hi, Aline."

"Jacey!" she squealed, "Come back for me?"

"Um no," I replied, gesturing to Clary.

"Oh, well, here are your pancakes," she said, throwing a glare at Clary, which she returned.

These two were just too funny. If anybody would win, though, it would be Clary. She was the most stubborn creature I had ever encountered, when it came to worthy causes. Apparently, in Clary's mind, I was a worthy cause.

It didn't really matter to me- the looks on other girls' faces as they saw me, the flirting- none of it. To me, there was Clary, and only Clary. She was my sun, my moon, and my stars, all in one.

After Aline left us alone, I turned slightly towards Clary, determined to tell her something she deserved to know.

"Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything; you should know that."

"Ok well, when I was younger- a whole lot younger, there was this drawing. It wasn't just any drawing, it was one my best friend gave me when I was little. I have no freaking idea where she is, but that painting means a lot to me. Do you think you can help me find it?"

"Jace," she said, as if an idea had struck her brain. "You don't mean this, do you?"

And with that, she pulled out a drawing of a boy and a girl, drawn by childish eight-year old hands.

**There you go! Since it's Monday, I figured we all needed a little something to get us through the rest of the week. Probably not another review till like Friday or so, sorry!  
**

**Keep those reviews coming, pretty please :D **

**Just hit that button down there**

**Thanks for reading!**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Hello, fellow TMI fans. XD so I was looking at the cast for CoB for the billionth time, and I can't help feeling… Is the guy who plays Jace simply not hot enough to be Jace, or is it just me?**

**I hope it not just me… :P anyways, can't wait for the movie to come out. 2013 woohoo! **

**My BFF from Jersey is coming this weekend **** so I have a busy weekend, srry if I don't update a lot. Lately, life has been, dare I say it- lifelike :O which is to say, homework sucks the life outta me.**

**So sorry for the late update :O :O**

**Anyways, I left you guys on a sorta? Cliffy? **

**My neighbor who usually looks through this for me once, and makes comments on it, is obsessed with Mark of Athena, so she's been no help -_- anyways, I want that book! **

**YAYAYAYAYAYYA! Here's the chappie!**

JPOV

Clary's hand trembled ever so slightly as she handed me a piece of paper, one like I knew like the back of my hand. I had studied that picture for hours and hours, to remember that girl on the playground. To wonder if she had somehow left me a sign, telling me where she was.

"Where the hell did you get this?" I asked her, my voice sharp.

"It's mine," she replied simply

"It's not yours, Clary. It's mine, from a long time ago," I told her, wanting more than anything to have my little piece of the past I clung to back.

"Jace," she said, sucking in air. "I made that painting when I was eight years old. I gave it to a boy I met on a playground for his birthday."

It couldn't be her.

All the pieces suddenly clicked, like two pieces of a puzzle; the girl saying she was abused, Clary's scars, the little evidences of somebody in my secret place; all of it.

"Clary, I was that boy on the playground," I told her carefully, not completely believing what was going on.

"Jace," she whispered. "I've been looking for you ever since that last day on the playground."

Emotions swirled around in my head, back and forth, back in forth. I wasn't sure exactly what the feeling was, though.

Happiness, for the fact I had finally found her? Sadness, knowing I could never truly escape the past? But I was angry, angrier than I had ever been around Clary.

"You left me," I accused her. "You left me, and never came back. Do you know how much I missed my best friend? Dammit Clary, I've spent every minute since then wondering when I would see you again."

"It's not my fault, Jace," she protested, and I felt a wave of guilt.

She looked so tiny and fragile, sitting there, body curled up and angled away from me.

"Clary," I said, my voice softer this time, "I just need time to think, okay?"

She nodded, and I paid, leaving more money than necessary on the table, not really caring. I wanted to get out of there, and go anywhere but home. Preferably, a place I could get drunk and forget what was happening. I headed towards Pandemonium, ignoring on the looks and squeals I got from girls. Before, I would have stopped and flirted, but now I didn't really care. It was so shallow that they only liked me for my looks; not really caring who I really was.

Clary cared. She hadn't fallen just for my looks, but every bit of me. She had accepted me for who I was, my dark side included. But I hadn't really spent enough time to get to know her for _her_ in all whole. I had just gotten to know fractions of the Clary I had thought was whole.

On second thought, I wasn't the only broken one. Clary was broken, little fragments strewn here and there. Maybe we could fix each other. We would never be truly whole- there were too many little pieces for that. But if you put two halves together, you get a whole. If I was black, then Clary was white. And life wasn't always shades of black or white- most of the time it was gray. You needed to not be one extreme, but somewhere in the middle to really be whole. And Clary was the other part that made me whole.

I felt so incredibly guilty of snapping at her like that, and leaving her, just like that. I had just needed to process what was going on. Clary was the girl, the one that had haunted my dreams. She was my first love, and my true love. She was my soul mate, the one I was sure I was going to spend the rest of my life with. And so I knew, deep, somewhere in me, she understood.

I just wanted to get desperately drunk, and forget everything that was going on. As soon as I got inside Pandemonium, I ordered some alcoholic beverage- I didn't care what it was, as long as a couple of it would make me forget all of it.

The liquid burned down my throat, and I welcomed it, wincing slightly. Miraculously, it was working. I got caught up to the beat of the music, bouncing slightly in my seat, enjoying just being alive. The world was spinning slightly- but I didn't care. I was alive, right there, and now, and that was all that mattered.

I saw two men standing off towards a side, looking eerily familiar, and I stumbled towards them. Upon closer look, one of them was older, and the other one was a spitting image of Sebastian.

"Hello, Jonathan," the older one greeted me, using the name only my father had used. It didn't even occur to me that it was odd that this man knew my name.

"Jace," the Sebastian-wannabe smirked, "Back to your old ways, are we?"

He had Sebastian's attitude, as well.

And suddenly, in that moment, I had the strangest feeling. It was as if this man _was _Sebastian. You must be really drunk, I told myself. Sebastian is dead, in a cold grave where he will stay forever. You saw it yourself; you saw Clary cry as you held her in your arms.

I turned around and walked away, happily oblivious to the looks they gave me. Because when you're as drunk as I was, you don't care about your problems anymore. They're happily forgotten, stuck at the back of your mind where you can't find them. Sometimes, that's not such a good thing.

Not such a good thing, at all.

Jonathan POV

A petite girl with fiery red hair burst through the door, looking clearly upset. I had been examining something Simon called, "the Dishwasher," but I hadn't really grasped the concept of it yet.

"Hello," I told her pleasantly.

"Hi," she replied, her mind clearly in another world. Then, realizing she didn't know me, she took a step backwards. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Jonathan," I said, smiling a little bit. It had been a long day, with Simon and Isabelle at the hospital. I had been all alone, and it was nice to have some company.

"Um, okay," she said, and extending her hand out to me. "I'm Clary."

That was who Jocelyn had told me to go to, then. I couldn't believe this was my sister- we looked absolutely nothing like. While she had red hair, I had blonde hair. Obviously, our personalities were different too- she was sarcastic, while I was simply innocent about this world.

"Your mom told me to come to you," I told her. "I'm your brother."

At the mention of her- our mother, she tensed up. I could sense her worry about Jocelyn, something she had tried to hide from everybody.

"How do you know my mother? Are you in league with Valentine, then? Why don't you just take me away, then. Because I've been having a really crappy day, and this would be the perfect ending for it."

"What do you mean? Mom helped me escape."

"That's BS, and you know it, too. I don't have a brother!"

Taking a deep breath, and I held out a note to her. She took it with puzzled eyes, and then gasped as she saw Jocelyn's handwriting.

_Dear Clary,_

_I had hoped we could escape the past; but somehow we never can. Here I am, now, paying for a mistake I made in high school. _

_I fell in love with Valentine. I was young, naïve, and innocent. And he whispered false promises in my ear; I was stupid to believe him. I had a child, a boy, but he told me the boy had died. _

_I found out he was alive. He wanted to die; and if I know one person who is full of life, it's you, Clary. With your bright red hair, and personality, you are life. _

_So I sent him to you. He's escaped from Valentine, and that's all I ever wanted for my children. To be happy, and to be free. _

_I love you, Clary._

_Jocelyn_

I saw tears streak down her face, and I held her tight. "Mom…" she whispered.

"It's okay," I told her, completely understanding what she was feeling. "I saw her, she's fine for now." Jocelyn was the type of mom you wanted; she was kind, and ever since then, I felt fortunate to have her for my mom.

"For now."

"We'll go back for her, okay? I promise."

"Swear on your life?"

"Yeah," I replied simply. Ever since I met Isabelle, my life had a purpose. There was more to life than I had ever imagined.

"You know," I said thoughtfully, "I love life now. When Jocelyn found me, I really wanted to die. I think it's the city."

"Meet me in thirty minutes, okay? I have to change out of this funeral outfit, then we're going out."

"Where to?" I wondered.

She grinned at me mischievously. "I'm going to show you New York."

**There it is! Sorry it took forever ugghh life sucks sometimes! Anyways, keep your fingers crossed for an update- cuz I updated so late, a lucky reviewer will get a sneak peek :O **

**SO REVIEW, CHILDREN XD**

**That button down there? Press it :O**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: I have five words for you today.**

**Thank you. I love you! **

**I cannot even comprehend the fact that so many people are reading my story- and liking it. I think, in a way, when I started writing this story, I was broken- not for the same reasons as Clary and Jace, but I was. This story- and you beautiful people- you are fixing me up. I think you did a better job than a band-aid. **

**Today's my birthday :D so can you give me a prezzy in the form of a review? I will love you FOREVER :D**

IPOV

"Simon," I whined.

"What, Izzy," he asked me, rolling his eyes.

"I love you," I replied, leaning in for a kiss. He obliged, and we made out for a while. Before, everything had been slow but suddenly there was an urgency there that hadn't been there before. It was as if both of us were trying to hold on to every bit of time we had.

Time is a precious thing. Every second is weighted, and every little millisecond counts. Sometimes, that's all it takes to show you that you don't have long to make a difference. And I knew, more than anything, I wanted to make a difference. When I died, I wanted to leave something to remember me by. Whatever small the mark was, no matter how tiny the impact, I wanted that.

The only thing I wanted more was that when I died, Simon would move on. I knew him pretty well, and I knew that he would grieve for the rest of his life. But somehow I had to get him to understand that I would always watch over him. Because people's hearts were like stones, and people were like tidal waves at the beach. No matter how small, each wave impacted the stone. I loved Simon.

But sometimes, the best way to show somebody you love them is to let them go.

"Simon," I whispered. "Maybe we should break it off, now. It would spare you a lot of grief."

The look in Simon's eyes was enough to tell me he thought I was crazy, and that he would never let that happen.

"Are you an idiot, Isabelle Lightwood? I love you so much, it would kill me not to be there every step of the way. You think you're sparing me grief? If anything, that would make it worse. Do you honestly think that it's better to feeling nothing at all rather than hurting?"

"I don't know," I mumbled.

"You beautiful, lovely, stupid girl," he murmured in my ear. "I love you, and I'm not letting go of you now."

"It's been a long journey, Simon. But I think it's almost over," I said, my voice so quiet I could barely hear it.

"Don't say that. You don't know that until every drop of energy you have is used, and you don't go down without a fight," he replied, his voice fierce.

I giggled suddenly at the absurdness of his motivational speech. It was so abrupt and random, that even Simon started laughing.

"What are you, a football coach?" I asked him, between laughs.

"Nope, just a concerned boyfriend," he said, shaking with laughter.

"You know what I'm concerned about right now?"

"The fact you haven't gone shopping in forever?"

"Good point," I replied, tilting my head and pretending to think about it. "No, but I was thinking more about how worried I am about your sanity. I swear to God, all the time you spend in the hospital with me is starting to wear off on you."

"Please, I am the Dragonborn!" Simon exclaimed, making Skyrim reference.

"You nerd," I laughed.

"Nobody calls the Dragonborn a nerd! Skyrim rests on my shoulders!"

"Your girlfriend calls you a nerd. Otherwise she takes you shopping and does mean things to your avatar."

"Not the shopping!"

"Oh yes, the shopping," I teased. "I think we'll go to Hollister, and then buy you some really good cologne."

"Over my dead boy are you going to take me into a dark store with overpriced clothes, and pictures of shirtless guys."

"Funny, because I think those guys are hot. "

"Oh, and you're going to leave me for a Abercrombie model?"

"Maybe. You know, we could just avoid this conversation if you just let me call you a nerd on occasion!"

I could feel Simon's deep laugh rumble in his throat a little, and then it built up. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he mocked me a bit.

"Are you mocking me?!"

"Oh, I am the great Isabelle Lightwood," he screeched in an extremely high falsetto, and pretending to flip his hair a bit.

"First off, I don't sound like that. Second, you really need a haircut. Third, I really need to meet that Abercrombie model soon. This is just sad."

Simon beckoned me, until I was practically on top of him.

"Would you want an Abercrombie model now?"

"Depends," I said thoughtfully, pretending to consider. "Only if that Abercrombie model insists he's the Dragonborn."

"I am the freaking Dragonborn!" Simon exclaimed, then realization dawned on his face. "I am the guy you're talking about, right?"

"Depends, Ratboy."

"On what?"

"Does the Hollister model's body fit into mine as well as yours does?"

"Like how?"

"Like this," I said, sinking into the sheets.

CPOV

"That building was so high," Jonathan said in an awestruck voice.

"Yeah, I know," I answered, slightly absently. "You know, at one time, that was the tallest building in North America."

"Really? That's amazing!"

" The wonder of man will never cease," I sighed. It had been a long day, but spending time with Jonathan had been good for me in some ways; with his innocence and all.

I envied him. I wanted his carefree abandon of life, and his innocence. Why couldn't my life be as simple as his was? He didn't know what a stalker was when I met him, for God's sake! And I had seen things no other person wanted to see. I had seen cuts on myself that no person should have to suffer through. Sometimes, wounds go deeper than the skin. You have nightmares, and you will never forget what happens. Every scar is a memory of something you would rather erase. For the rest of forever, I would be hurt, and in a way, never whole. I worried about Jace sometimes; what if he was just like Valentine? He had it all; the looks, the charm, the attitude. The way he had acted when I told him about the picture didn't really help.

What if Jace left me? What if he hated me? What if he hurt me?

"Clary?"

"Yes, Jonathan?"

"Who's that?" he asked me curiously, pointing to somebody behind me. I turned around to find none other than my golden-haired boyfriend with a bunch of roses standing silently behind me.

"That's Jace, my boyfriend," I explained.

"Oh cool," he replied, then said something about going to find Isabelle.

Which left Jace and I alone. Lovely.

"Clary, I'm sorry," he told me, thrusting the roses towards me. I accepted them silently, putting them in a vase with water.

We stood there for a moment, silently, watching each other carefully. He finally broke the silence.

"I can't stand this silence. Say something, Clary. Anything. I'm sorry!"

"What do you want me to say, Jace? That I forgive you, and that it's all okay?"

"Something along those lines would be nice. Especially if it's followed by a hot make out session!"

"Um, no," I whispered, then said it again, this time firmer.

"Why not?" he asked me, bewildered.

"Because you're Jace Lightwood, the god from the heaven. That's the way Valentine was, too."

Realization dawned his face, and he said loudly, "What the hell? Do you really think that I'm as low as Valentine? Do you know anything Clary? I love you. And that's something Valentine never had. You are my sun and my moon. My world revolves around you. And you think I'm like Valentine?"

"I don't know, Jace. Maybe we should take a break," I murmured, almost afraid of his reaction and he got closer, and closer.

He pressed his warm lips against mine, and sparks flew. He wrapped an arm around my waist, and my hand got tangled in his hair. It was the most perfect kiss in the history of kisses, filled with passion, gentleness, and most of all, _love._

He broke away first. "Tell me you don't feel that," he demanded me. "Tell me that it means nothing to you." When I didn't say anything, he put his hands on my shoulders on my shoulders and shook me, hard.

"Tell me you don't love me," he breathed. "Tell me I mean nothing to you, and you would be better off without me, and you will never hear from me again."

I took a shallow breath, and stepped away from him. "How can I not love you?" I asked him, and he visibly relaxed. "But I'm a chicken, Jace. I'm afraid of reality. My mother is missing because my father kidnapped her, I just found out I have a brother, and life just kind of sucks right now, okay? I just need space." The last sentence came out tiny and weak.

"Space?"

"Yes, space. I gave you space when you left Taki's, you know. And at least I deal with my problems better than you deal with yours- I know that you got drunk. I deal with my problems, Jace. I don't just completely drink them away like you do! The least you can do is give me space."

"You want space? Fine, I'll give you space," he yelled, walking out and slamming the door.

I stared in shock at the door, not really understanding what had just happened.

Part of me wanted to run out the door, find Jace and tell him that wasn't what I meant- like what happened in the movies. But life wasn't really a movie; reality was so much harsher. There weren't really happily ever afters. It was a bittersweet thing, filled with both happiness and sadness. So I let Jace storm out the door, into the big scary world I called home.

I looked at the roses, which were slowly wilting- even though I had just put them in water. Just like our relationship.

And all I could think was, "What the hell just happened?"

**Ok, there :D sorry for the late update :O I'm really really sorry**

**The lucky reviewer was To Love is To Destroy—because I love that penname.**

**Because today is my birthday, TWO lucky reviewers will get a sneak peek.**

**Can you give me the BEST birthday present ever and review? I'll love you forever and give you a Jace cookie (::)**

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**- lolbeawesome**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Yes, I know. It's been FOREVER! But that's only 'cause I had writer's block, and then life happened, and really intense ballet. **

**Did I mention I got a beta? Yep, my work just got better. I LOVE YOU LIVYBUG! Even if you do support the Vikings… **

**I started a new story, called Broken Pieces. Pretty please will you check it out? (insert puppy eyes here)**

**Anyways, here's the chapter!**

CPOV

A figure, barely recognizable as human at first slowly emerged on paper. Eyes looked up at me, almost as if they were searching me for an answer, mouth twisted in an ever-present smirk. I swallowed, running my hands over the drawing. Jace. There was a dull ache as my heart thudded, just thinking about him. Where was he now? Hooking up with some girl while getting drunk?

Was I that easy to forget? Had I really meant that little to him?

I glanced at the roses Jace had given me, grabbing one and inhaling the scent. The sweet aroma reminded me of him; Jace's scent had always reminded me of sunshine for some reason. Looking at myself in the mirror, I laughed bitterly. I had been reduced to just another one of Jace's petty girlfriends, crying when he left them.

Love was like a rollercoaster. Sometimes you were high, so high you felt like you could touch the sky. And other times, you were free falling, fast and far. They said love was worth it. I had even told Jace that love conquered all, and he had told me that sometimes, love wasn't enough. He was right, of course. Sometimes, you would rather just not love at all, just harden your heart and keep out all emotions. But what did Jace know about love? He was a player, hopping from one girl to the next, never really caring about the consequences.

My drawing wasn't complete, I realized as I studied it carefully, looking for any flaws. As much I hated to admit it, everything about Jace was perfect, and any flaws meant I hadn't even been able to portray him correctly. Closing my eyes, I imagined what he looked like. Chipped canine tooth, golden eyes staring into mine, golden features making me feel ordinary, and smiling at me.

And then I realized what was missing; me. I needed to see my short body contrasting with his, to feel him grasp my hand is his, to feel his warmth as he hugged me, and to be lost in fireworks and he kissed me.

Picking up my pencil, a petite form began to appear, in sharp contrast with the tall figure. They were like puzzle pieces; each one different, but somehow clicking together. Sure, they were just a small piece of the whole puzzle, but you couldn't see the picture without them.

Jace was wrong. Love made the whole world go around, time after time, it made you cry, and it made you laugh. It was something each one of us experienced, and never let go of, treasuring it.

Eyeing my picture, I decided it was perfect the way it was. The couple smiled at me, urging me to talk to Jace, to tell me that they were what I so desperately needed.

Because space? It made you cold and distant from the rest of the world. Space couldn't give you a hug, offer a listening ear, or wipe the tears off your face. That one thing was the whole reason I was sitting here alone with suddenly too much of what I had thought I wanted.

Sudden courage filled me, only to be replaced with doubt and cowardice, but I pushed it away. I had to do this and I wasn't going to let anything- or anyone stop me now. I was known for being stubborn, just I was known for being short, and once I set my mind on something, I wasn't going to let go until I got what I wanted.

Walking outside, I set a brisk tempo, enjoying the fresh air. The city was so vibrant, so _alive, _it gave me hope that by the end of the day, I'd be walking this very road with Jace.

Knocking on the Lightwood's door, I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, I thought, and smiled at Izzy when she opened the door.

Her eyes were red and puffy and when I looked at her questioningly, she placed a strand of hair in my hand. Not just any random piece of hair, but a long, jet black, silky strand. It was her hair.

Izzy's hair was falling out.

"Oh, Izzy," I murmured, going up to her slowly and giving her a hug. Her beauty had been the one thing that she had prized the most, and it seemed cruel to take that from her. As I looked, I could see many more missing and it seemed to take a piece of her heart with each piece gone.

"It's not fair, Clary," she cried, tears running down her face in silver streaks. Even like this, she was stunning, and I wondered why she couldn't see it.

"Isabelle Lightwood, you're beautiful. You are stunning, and losing your hair will only draw more attention to your face."

"No, now they'll only think of me as a poor cancer victim, and give me sympathetic looks."

I realized suddenly I'd been so wrapped up in my own problems, I hadn't had any time for my best friend's. I'd been completely oblivious and in the time I wasn't there, she had been transformed from my shopping-obsessed, sarcastic best friend into a person who just wanted to live a normal life. I hated cancer for what it had done to Izzy.

"Tell you what, Izzy. I really need to talk to Jace, but afterwards, we're going to the hairdresser, and I'm going to shave my hair off. Then, if people look at you, they'll be looking at both of us."

She gave me a watery smile, and whispered, "You would do that for me?"

"I would do anything for you, Izzy. You're my best friend, and I haven't really been here for you lately. But from now on, I swear to god I'm going to be better about it."

She wrapped me in a bone-crunching hug, and told me, "You know, whatever happened between you and Jace, you need to fix it. He's been in his room listening to really depressing music- if I were listening to it, I would have committed suicide my now." Giving me a little push towards the stairs, she turned back to making a sandwich.

I walked up the stairs, taking a deep breath. Approaching Jace's door, I heard music playing- Izzy had been right, it was extremely depressing. I knocked once, and heard Jace yell out, "Whoever you are, I don't care. Stay the hell away from me."

Even his voice left me slightly breathless and I opened the door, walking up to Jace, who was lying down on his bed, staring at his ceiling as if it would give him all the answers. It killed me to see him reduced to this, and I stood next to him silently.

"Jace," I murmured, not entirely sure if he would hear me. His head towards me, and he looked at me as if I was just a hallucination, and if he looked away I would be gone.

"Clary," he whispered, voice rough, as if he had been crying for a very long time.

"I'm so sorry, Jace," I said, tears escaping my eyes.

He got up from his bed, walking over to me in large strides, pinning me against the wall.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he replied, breath hot in my ear. And then we were kissing, lips crashing, hips and legs tangled, my hand stuck in his hair. It was utterly perfect, and I was exactly where I wanted to be. We were completely absorbed in each other, with complete rapture.

I, in that moment could have died for Jace.

"I love you," I told him, something I had said countless times, but this time I meant it so much, love didn't even seem to be descriptive enough.

"I love you too, Clary. God, I don't think you know how much."

And just like that, I felt safe in Jace's arms, and for a little bit, I was in a bubble, free from the rest of the world.

Jocelyn POV

"Valentine," I coldly greeted the man standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Jocelyn," he said, with a smirk on his face. My blood boiled when I saw him there, and all I wanted was to go home. To see Clary and Jonathan again, and to go on one more date with Luke. But here I was instead, kidnapped by no person other than my ex-husband.

"Why do you want me here, anyways?"

"To make you love me again," he whispered, his voice uncharacteristically soft and gentle.

"It's a little too late for that, isn't it, Valentine? Torturing our little girl didn't exactly show me you loved me, and neither did telling me our little boy was dead!"

"I've made mistakes, Jocelyn, I am not denying that," he replied, beckoning towards another shady figure. As the person stepped out, I realized it was none other than Clary's boyfriend, Sebastian

"Sebastian," I gasped in horror. He had always seemed like a nice kid to me, and I had seen the way he looked at Clary. Had all that been just a joke? Had he hurt Clary? Where was she now?

"Hello, Ms. Fray," he smiled, but that smile had an ominous side to it, one that promised trouble. Why hadn't I seen it before?

"Go to hell, Valentine," I burst out violently, and I saw his soft side go away, only to be replaced with something hostile and ferine.

"Play it your way then," he snarled, and both him and Sebastian turned towards the door.

"Where are you going," I asked, scared for whoever would have to face Valentine's wrath in his currently state of mind.

He grinned at me wolfishly, as if anticipating whatever was ahead.

"Why, going to pay my dear daughter Clarissa a visit, of course."

**WHEE… does that count as a cliffy? Idk, you tell me. Leave a review, and I will love you forever and ever in a non-awkward kinda way. **

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**Immortalrunes**

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	27. Chapter 27

**OMG GUYS I AM SO SORRY! IT'S BEEN FOREVER, I KNOW. **

**yeah. I'm really sorry :O Because of Hurricane Sandy and life and all that stuff, I couldn't find time to write. Plus, I've become quite obsessed with Tumblr- it is so addicting. If you don't have one, you should get one! And pretty please follow me :O **

**My tumblr is: . **

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**a) use one of your ideas for this story**

**b) give you a preview of an entire chapter before it comes out**

**and of course I'll follow you backers :D**

**Anyways, sorry for the delay- hope you enjoy this chapter. Happy voting day+ Tuesday!**

IPOV

No. No. No. This was all wrong, every single bit of it.

Isn't funny how one little thing can change your life, how the worst things in life come free to us? Cancer had impacted my life, and it was the most ill-fated thing that had happened to me. I had lost the sort of carefree attitude I had towards life; the partying, the fashion obsessing I had had, all to be replaced with an urgency, to find some tiny way to leave my own mark on this world. I wanted people to remember me so that I wasn't just that poor girl who died from cancer.

When my hair fell, something in me snapped, protesting against this reality. It wasn't fair, the fact that I was fighting for every day, every month while others just spent their days partying and worrying about insignificant things.

Maybe that was their way of avoiding the scary things in life. Because there were a lot of those; hell, the whole world was just one big nightmare, one scare after another.

I sometimes wondered if there was somebody up there in the sky, if we were all just marionettes. To whoever was up there, was there a true intention behind every move, or was it just child's play? Or was there absolutely nothing divine and we were just all alone to face our twisted realities?

When I died, would I just be gone, disappeared on the wind? Or would something remain behind, a ghost of some sort, physical or mental?

What about my dreams? I wanted to go to college, start a fashion line, get married to Simon and have kids. I wanted to give Clary a million makeovers, to watch her get married to Jace, and babysit their kids. There was no fairytale of a future to hide in anymore; this was the real world.

I hated it. Why couldn't life be a fairytale? Why couldn't I get married to my prince and have a happily ever after?

Cancer horror stories, we've all heard them in some way. Toddlers, infants, four-year olds, there has been news coverage on a lot of cancer stories. But most of the time, people don't really care until they are actually being affected by it in some way- they might give money and sympathetic glances, but they'll move on with their life.

How many people can devote their lives to something so completely irrelevant to their lives now, purely because they want to make a difference?

I had begun writing- diary entries, short stories, letters for people to read after I died, poems, you name it. My reasoning was that words were one thing that never disappeared. If someone's ever said something harsh to you, the idea behind the words resonates within you, even amongst a million compliments.

Simon came up from behind me into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around me. I responded by turning around and giving him a chaste kiss, grinning at him as our eyes met.

"Hello, dragonborn."

"You remembered," Simon crowed triumphantly, doing what I presumed was a victory dance of some sort. I rolled my eyes at him, to which he protested. "Hey! No rolling eyes at the dragonborn!"

"Cut the dragonborn crap, would you, Simon? This may astound you, but not everybody has a crazy obsession of video games like you do."

"Okay, fine," he replied, admitting defeat, his expression somewhat equivalent to that of a six year old child who has just been told that he can't have ice cream from the ice cream truck. " Watchya doing?"

"Writing," I replied absently, and he frowned, body tensing a bit. When I had told Simon why I wanted to write, he had been against it altogether. He was stuck on the idea that maybe there would be some miracle breakthrough, that perhaps in the next month or so, some genius scientist would find a cure for cancer.

"Oh," he said softly, turning away from me, and I saw a tear trickle down his face. When I went to wipe it away, he pushed away my hand.

" I just hate this Izzy, every single bit of it. Before we found out you had cancer, I knew for a fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. Hell, I still want to spend every moment with you. I want to get old and when I die, it'll be okay because I spent a lifetime with you. But this, I just feel so damn helpless. You're fighting for every single day, and I can't do a single thing about it."

"Do you think I like it any more than you do, Simon?" I asked, my voice unnecessarily sharp and bitter. "Do you think that I want to die before living my whole life? I had plans for the two of us, too."

"Let's do whatever we wanted to do as a couple in a week," Simon said suddenly.

"What the hell? Have you finally gone crazy, Simon Lewis?"

When I considered it, it wasn't a half-bad idea. "Okay," I relented.

Simon knelt on one knee, taking a velvet box out of his pocket with a flourish.

"Izzy, I love you so much. I love your fashion obsession, your sarcasm, your friendship and your strength. I want to spend every single day of my life with you. I know, this is the crappiest proposal speech ever- but will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

I had to admit, I cried a bit, hugging Simon, and he replied by kissing me, hard and full of love.

"I take that as a yes?" he asked me coyly.

"No, you idiot, I just cry and hug everybody who proposes to me!"

"Other people propose to you?"

JPOV

Being with Clary again was the most amazing feeling in the world. It was like breathing again after being suffocated for what seemed like eternity. She was snuggled into my chest, and I planned on never letting her go.

"I love you, you know that?" I asked her. It was wholeheartedly true; I loved her red hair, her height, and even her inability to lift one eyebrow.

"Duh, Jace. You kept me around," she replied. "But do you love me enough to take me to Taki's and buy me pancakes?"

"Depends on what I get in return," I said, wagging my eyebrows and smirking.

"Geez, guys are such perverts sometimes," Clary complained.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you. Now are you going to buy me the damn pancakes or not?"

I leaned over, starting to tickle her and chuckling when I heard her giggles.

" Not- fair- Jace," she gasped.

"Life isn't fair, Clary. You should know this by now."

She looked at me pathetically with puppy eyes. The puppy eyes were my downfall- actually, Clary as a whole was my fatal flaw, my Achilles heel.

"Okay, let's go get you your pancakes," I sighed, grabbing my car keys, and Clary stood up almost immediately.

"I love you, Jace."

"Because I buy you pancakes?"

"Yes, obviously," she replied, rolling her eyes.

We burst into Taki's, earning a bunch of curious stares, and then a bunch of excited murmuring from some girls. I flashed a smile in their general direction, smirking at their reaction. Clary smacked me, hard, and I turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"What the hell was that for?"

"For leading those girls on, you player! You're mine," she said, the last part causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. As she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me, I hid a smile. Clary was pretty damn cute when she was jealous. The girls threw dirty looks at Clary, fluttering their eyelashes and flipping their hair in what I guessed they thought was an attractive way.

As we slid into a booth, Kaelie came up to us, smiling at me, stopping abruptly when she saw Clary.

Hey, I may have dated a lot of girls, but I didn't completely understand the female race.

"Pancakes, Kaelie," I told her, and she nodded, flipping her hair and turning to the kitchen. Clary sighed, leaning against me, and I pulled her closer, closer, until she was in my lap. A feeling of just immense _wanting _filled me- I wanted Clary completely. To know her stories, her whole entire life. I wanted to chase after an eternity with Clary.

Wide eyed, her fingers traced my neck and my chest, and I shivered as goosebumps appeared on my skin. I sent her a questioning look, and she leaned forward slowly, kissing me softly, tenderly.

"I wanted to make sure you were real," she whispered, and I saw her- not for the first time, as a fragile, vurnerable human being. Clary was a stronghold, something sturdy- it amazed me that someone so petite could hold that much weight. I mean, her mom was missing, and her best friend had terminal cancer.

Kaelie flounced up, pancakes in hand. She put them on the table, platter clattering a bit as she placed it on the table. Clary immediately sat up, picking up a fork. I grinned, chuckling a bit as she glared at me. As soon as the first bite of pancake went into her mouth however, a serene expression appeared on her face.

"Oh my god," she moaned. "These pancakes were made in heaven, I swear to god."

"Are you kidding?" I asked, my voice mockingly outraged. "I was made in heaven; how can those pancakes even come close to being compared to me?"

She waved her fork, filled with pancake in my face, and as I took a bite I understood what she was saying.

"Good pancakes," I consented, and Clary smirked at me. "But I'm still better than any pancakes."

"Jace, is your self-esteem so low you actually feel the need to compare yourself to pancakes?"

"Hey!" I protested. She rolled her eyes at me, continuing to eat pancakes. After a while, she stood up, telling me she had to go to the bathroom. I nodded once, ignoring the weird butterfly feeling in my stomach.

Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes. Twenty five minutes. Thirty minutes.

I waited for thirty minutes, wondering why it was taking Clary so long. Finally, I asked Kaelie to check in the girl's bathroom, and she nodded, fluttering her eyelashes. Thirty seconds later, there was a scream. I didn't care that it was the girl's bathroom; I ran inside, and when I saw what was left, I wanted to scream just as loud as Kaelie did.

Signs of a struggle; broken glass on the floor, toilet paper strewn, and blood.

The worst part? On a mirror, written a red liquid that was presumably blood, was a heart. My stomach clenched when I saw that, and I hated Valentine with a deathless, bitter hatred- even more than I did before, if that was possible.

My Clary was gone, to god knows where, kidnapped by none other than her mad genius of a father, where her mom was too. I hated to universe for doing that to her, and I hated it even more for the fact that I hadn't even had Clary back for a day, and she was gone.

And I cursed the day I ever met somebody who was nothing to me but a familiar stranger.

**There we go :O Interpretation of the title lol**

**And everybody who reviewed got a sneak peek cuz I suck and didn't update forever :D**


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